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Sunday Letter: 02.10.19

February 10, 2019 By Talya Tate Boerner 13 Comments

Sunday Letter

Dear Sunday Letter friends,

This time of year I spend time looking for the first blooms in our flower beds. Our daffodils are taking their sweet time which is probably a good thing since an arctic blast brought bone-chilling cold on Thursday with icy snow flurries that lasted all day. Those of a certain age will probably remember the Chiffon margarine commercial that ended with the reminder—it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.

Remember?

Well, you can’t rush her either.

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Book Two and a World of Distractions

October 17, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner 7 Comments

Book Two & distractions

I thought I should let y’all know I haven’t died. It’s been a week since I blogged which is a long time for me. Here’s the thing. I’ve been working on Book Two. And doing other things. Other things in the life of a writer are also known as writing distractions.

Distractions come is all sorts of packaging with a variety of labels. Like wasting time on Facebook. Watching The Voice. Enjoying a long lunch at a restaurant instead of eating a quick sandwich at home. I’m not knocking distractions. I think giving the mind a break can be a productive and inspirational thing. But, recognizing distractions is important, too, especially if you ever plan to finish that book.

You know?

Writing:

Regarding Book Two, I have a completed draft, so yay! Some say finishing a draft is the hardest part. I agree. But once the draft is finished, editing becomes the hardest part. It’s easy to make excuses, put it off, find a million things to do other than see a manuscript to the end.

Editing is hard work and fun. This is the part that takes the story to the next level. The writer fills in gaps and holes, develops character, makes the narrative flow with ease. To all you authors, I highly recommend hiring a professional editor before submitting to a publisher. Editing is much more than grammar and spelling.

editing

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Editing, Punctuation, and Hair belonging to Elvis

October 14, 2015 By Talya Tate Boerner 5 Comments

Editing, Punctuation, and hair belonging to ElvisYesterday I worked farmer’s hours editing The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee. 5:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. That’s a long day with 117,822 words. I took a quick break for lunch at my desk, walked the dogs at least twice, and in the afternoon, I raked leaves for thirty minutes to clear my mind. This morning I’m giving a shout out to the editors who have worked on my book—a good editor is more than worth her weight in gold or good bourbon or homemade pizza or whatever deemed valuable. Editors find needle-in-haystack errors, as well as huge problems, like plot nonsense and timeline confusion.

One thing this process has taught me is that my knowledge of punctuation isn’t as strong as I thought. Continue Reading


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

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