Roger and Me: How Movie Reviews Helped Me Become a Storyteller

Besides my family and friends, there are only three more things that I love:  books, music and movies.  So when I learned of film critic Roger Ebert's sudden passing a few days ago, I was really sad. I knew that he had been quite sick for many years but he was still working.  A fellow Chicagoan and Pulitzer Prize winning author, he...

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Controlling Your Fiction Character

The TIE Mini Blog Tour rolls on!  Hanging out today with the fabulous blogger Angela Benson of Library Girl Reads!     Since my oldest daughter is now a young woman and spends most of her weekends out with her friends, I find that it’s a perfect time for me to bond with my youngest daughter. One of the ways in which we do this...

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Fiction and Taxes: Is there a difference?

The TIE Mini Blog Tour Continues at the Cabin Goddess! When I was a child growing up in Chicago, my mother used to say, ‘I don’t HAVE to do anything in this world except die and pay taxes;’ a very appropriate statement since “Tax Day” in America is already upon us.  For those of us lucky, or better yet, wise enough to complete our tax forms...

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Is Paris My Muse?

The TIE Mini Book Tour Kicks off with a visit to author Malika Gandhi's Blog: People often ask me to describe Paris.  Almost always, I provide the same reply: A beautiful place still full of mystery.  I moved there with my husband and two young daughters, and stayed for five years before moving to Lausanne, Switzerland in 2007. ...

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Writing Effective Flash Fiction

The great Ray Bradbury advised authors to write a short story a day. Don't have time? Then try a little Flash Fiction. Encounters in Paris is totally a collection of Flash. As I work to improve my own writing, here's what I've learned about FF so far!  Head over to the #NovelSpaces blog to find out more! “…Write a short story in one...

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Book Press Release - Railway Confessions by Carolyn Moncel: Fictional Tales Examines Clandestine Meetings and Confessions

Fictional Tales Examines Clandestine Meetings and Confessions Author Carolyn Moncel Releases Railway Confessions – A Collection of Short Stories LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, March 1, 2012 — Would you ever reveal a dark secret to a complete stranger – even if you knew you’d never meet that person again? This question is at the heart of author,...

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French vs. American Attitudes Regarding Infidelity

“Chérie, I must say that your people place way too much emphasis on affairs.”  These words are uttered by a male French character in my upcoming collection of short stories called Railway Confessions. I think his response generally encapsulates well what the French, in particular, may think about Americans when it comes to at least one...

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