Search updates from people that live within:
Viewing: All Updates
Updates Made by Ann Haywood Leal
Sunday, April 3, 2016 6:11:11 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Are You Listening?:
Ann said, "“Oh, it is interesting, the creative process. Where was this story before I wrote it down? I don’t know. It certainly wasn’t in my head.” --Gore VidalI think the idea process is the part of writing..." more
Friday, March 4, 2016 4:34:58 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Slow Down and Enjoy the Ride:
Ann said, "I know next to nothing about basketball, but when March Madness hits, I see people scrambling to predict who will win. They even put down money to back their frenzied calculations. It can be like that with that first idea when you are..." more
Sunday, February 7, 2016 9:32:22 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled The Post Where I Shamelessly Use Field of Dream Quotes:
Ann said, "In February we are given a day of possibilities at the beginning, with an extra day at the end during a leap year. My challenge for everyone this month is to combine Groundhog’s Day where anything can happen, with that gift of an extra..." more
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 3:50:22 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Go Ahead . . . Try It!:
Ann said, "It’s not that bad, right? Some people just want to do it and get it over with. Some look forward to it eagerly. Adding details to our writing is like decorating for the holidays. Once you immerse..." more
Sunday, November 1, 2015 5:36:01 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled What's it Doing in the Back of Your Refrigerator??:
Ann said, "Annie Dillard says, “ . . . spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good … give it, give it all, give it now. Something more will arise for later, something..." more
Friday, October 2, 2015 4:55:38 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Trick . . . or Treat . . . ?:
Ann said, "It's easy, right? Just treat your readers with your tricks. We beat ourselves up and rack our crazy writer brains trying to come up with the latest wowing trick.Writer, Merrill Markoe says she struggles with her tendency toward..." more
Friday, September 4, 2015 6:33:39 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to LaGuardia:
Ann said, "I believe it was the brilliant John Irving who said, “You don’t initiate a story until you know how you’re going to end it. You don’t start a dinner party conversation—‘A funny thing happened on the way to LaGuardia’..." more
Sunday, August 2, 2015 9:31:00 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Duct Tape, Chocolate and Walter White:
Ann said, "Sit. Write two words. Get distracted by something shiny.Two more words.Cross them out.Write three more. Sneak peek out the window.Stop. Sniff the air. Is that charcoal with a hint of cheeseburger?Lean..." more
Thursday, July 23, 2015 6:42:11 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled The Painful and Embarrassing:
Ann said, "Paula Danziger definitely had it right. She knew how to create a truth-telling world. This is the draw-you-in-immediately-make-you-laugh-sob-and-wet-your-pants-all-at-the-same-time kind of telling the truth. Wonderful to read, but..." more
Thursday, July 16, 2015 7:06:33 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Is Your Character Driving the Bus?:
Ann said, " “If you’re silent for a long time, people just arrive in your mind.” --Alice WalkerWith your first few lines, you are inviting your readers into the lives of your characters. You want your readers to feel as if they’re..." more
Thursday, July 9, 2015 5:20:25 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Razor Blades and Pencil Sharpeners:
Ann said, "Lewis Carroll once said, “What is the use of a book without pictures or conversation?”As middle-grade and young adult writers, we owe our readers those pictures and conversation. They are the toughest audience around. Right..." more
Thursday, July 2, 2015 7:42:12 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Where in the World Are We??:
Ann said, "I have always been partial to anything that is broken-down and decrepit or unusual, because such things always spark a story for me. I can't help but imagine: Who lived there? What went on in that place over the years? Some people..." more
Thursday, April 2, 2015 6:12:19 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Talk to Strangers:
Ann said, "I am cross-posting over at Smack-Dab-In-the-Middle today ... and I am looking at the frozen New England tundra of my back yard, with serious doubts that anything will ever grow there again. I'd much rather think about growing..." more
Monday, March 2, 2015 7:06:42 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Beware the ides of March:
Ann said, "Beware!Watch out!Heed my warning!We can always exercise a little caution in our lives. But can we be too cautious as writers?Sometimes we need to ignore the caution flag and step out of our comfort zones.I'd be willing to bet that..." more
Monday, February 2, 2015 4:24:33 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled One Letter at a Time:
Ann said, "Amira, just twelve years old and in the midst of civil war-torn Sudan, wants nothing more than to learn to read and write and to attend school. I fell in love with little Amira from Andrea Davis Pinkney's first word in her stunning new novel,..." more
Friday, January 9, 2015 12:20:44 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Everyone Loves a Challenge . . . Right?:
Ann said, ""It has been like hacking away at a freezer with a screwdriver." --Amy Poehler (on writing her book, YES PLEASE)Resolve is not only the perfect blog theme for the beginning of 2015, it is also the ideal theme for writing, especially in the verb..." more
Sunday, November 2, 2014 6:33:53 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Your character did WHAT?:
Ann said, "Writers can harvest ideas at the drop of a pick axe, right? As soon as we sit down and touch our fingers to the computer keys, those brilliant ideas just spill out onto the page like giant raindrops . . . right? Yesterday, I gave a mini..." more
Thursday, October 2, 2014 3:05:25 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Contemplating the Strange and Creepy:
Ann said, "I have a love-hate relationship with things that are strange and creepy. I am both intrigued and terrified in a can't-quite-pry-my-eyes-from-it way.The dark always held the top spot on my kid fear list. When I was five, my dad tried..." more
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 10:00:24 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Safer Than Bungee Jumping:
Ann said, "My cousin talked me into it on an unsuspecting Seattle summer evening a year ago. It truly did sound like a good idea -- an adventure -- safer than bungee jumping and way more enjoyable than that thing that everybody seems to be doing; the run..." more
Wednesday, April 16, 2014 2:53:01 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Serendipity ... or ... What are the Chances?:
Ann said, "Today is my day to post over at Smack-Dab-in-the-Middle, so to save you a click, I'll be cross-posting here:I am a definite fan of book trailers. In our digital media-rich world, it's important to use anything we can to get kids to pick up a..." more
Monday, April 14, 2014 6:48:57 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled I Have Only Three Words: Escape, Lost, and Urgent ...:
Ann said, "What do those words have in common? I can't say! I want to, but I am of Irish background, and something very terrible could happen if I give too much away.Holly SchindlerSomething I can say, is that I was thrilled to be asked to blog hop..." more
Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:54:26 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled You Can't Help Yourself:
Ann said, "It will happen without warning to the true book believer.Don't be afraid...just take a look by clicking HERE."
Thursday, February 27, 2014 10:54:26 PM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Climb into the Adventure:
Ann said, "Going up the wobbly path at Smack-Dab-in-the-Middle today...http://smack-dab-in-the-middle.blogspot.com"
Friday, August 16, 2013 8:52:55 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled Pick Yourself Up and Keep Going...:
Ann said, "I am blogging over at Smack-Dab-in-the-Middle today. I'll give a word list preview:*ambulance*prison*police car...come on over and see what's going on! http://smack-dab-in-the-middle.blogspot.com"
Monday, May 2, 2016 6:30:18 AM
Ann Haywood Leal wrote a blog post titled " . . . Are You Telling Me You Built a Time Machine . . . Out of a DeLorean?. . .":
Ann said, "Many of my writer and creative-type friends have just drifted into their REM states when I get up in the morning. The sun hasn’t even opened one eye, but I stumble down the stairs to feed my cats and open my laptop.It’s for a pretty..." more