December 21, 2012By Mary Hutchings ReedIf you’re a lawyer, you’ve honed the skill of interviewing clients and deposing witnesses. You know how to ask the same question a dozen different ways to clarify an answer, and you know how to ask a leading question, even if the objection will be sustained. But do...Read More
The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin’s first page had this picture of me (in pink) moderating the CBA’s Alliance for Women’s Author’s panel in November. Read More
Write what you know,” is one of the most common pieces of advice given to new writers, but not one that should be taken too literally, at least not in a factual sense. I don’t know a lot more than I do know, and if in order to write a novel I...Read More
IOctober 19, 2012 f you’ve been with us since April and been diligent about your writing on a daily basis, there is a good chance that you have at least 80 pages by now. Isn’t that remarkable? Yes, it is! You may deserve a break today, but I’m here to caution you not to take...Read More
Have a new date for the publication of “Warming Up” by She Writes Press, now set for March 1, 2013. This gives me some additional time to make a plan for promotion of this, my second novel to reach print. Promotion is essential to publication, because publication by itself is an empty reward. Without distribution and...Read More
Saw SVU Special Victims last night–a story about a young woman who was the named author of a work along the lines of 50 Shades. A talk show host rapes her two nights in a row, acting out the fantasies in the author’s book, which was the host’s “defense” as well as the prosecutor’s insight...Read More
September 21, 2012 By Mary Hutchings Reed We talked in July about letting a scene build gradually in order to give the reader the experience of being there, and in August we talked about finding words. Today, I’d like to write about the sentences that hold those words and how to write a sentence in...Read More
Last night LCA’s “family” celebrated its 40th anniversary with a very fun evening planned by Board Member Maureen Collins. The party favor was a copy of “LCA: The First Forty Years,” which I wrote this summer and published with CreateSpace. It was a great project for several reasons, primarily because it gave us a chance to...Read More
Heard a fascinating lecture on memory in novels by Fred Shafer at Off Campus Writers Workshop last week. It was the second in a four part series, and Fred aims to replace “backstory” with “memory.” Backstory is factual and provides needed information in summary; a memory is dramatic and specific and laden with emotion. He...Read More
