That Penultimate-Minded, War-Inducing, Trendy Punctuation Mark, The Oxford Comma Begs the Question, “Why so serious?”

The Oxford comma has many names, such as serial comma, series comma and the terminal comma. Terminal. Serial. These words conjure grave images in my mind and they are of the utmost serious kind. And for both pro- or anti-Oxford comma camps, it is a serious matter, indeed. 🙂 You may have noticed that I …

JuNoWriMo 2020 Day 11

Today I wrote 3,392 words, but I had to cut 624 of them and set them aside for a potential second book because the partial scene didn't move the plot forward.  🙂 Staying focused in writing is important. I found some new music to listen to while I write. You can enjoy it, too, by …

HELP! I Have an Overactive Imagination and (sometimes) I’m Afraid to Use it!

I remember once when I was sitting at home with my oldest son, (he was eight at the time), and he snapped at me, "Why do you keep laughing?" We were supposed to be enjoying silent reading time, or perhaps I was enjoying it a little too much because I couldn't stop laughing out loud …

Super Face Recognition: Have We Met Before?

In a previous post, I shared my experience as a teacher with hyperphantasia and coming to the realization that not all people have the ability to create mental images, after one of my students shared with me that he couldn't picture images in his mind. Curious, I wondered if there was a reason or diagnosis …

Colorism Healing 2020 Contest – I’m Humbled . . .

. . . to be one of the judges! 🙂 In 2018, I won 2nd place with my short-story-in-verse, "Souls Within" which centers on Jewel, a little black girl with albinism who desires for her classmates to truly see her. In between working from home, I've been relieving stress by squeezing in some writing and …

2017 Year-End Reflection AND 10 Reasons Why I Plan on 2018 Being Even Better!

Soon, the year 2018 will roll on in. Looking back to all that I've accomplished, in spite of the struggle and medical hardships (yup, maybe I'll share that someday), I can finally admit that I'm amazed and proud of myself. Before I sat down to type this post, I had to think back on every …

Quotes to Write By – Day 27

Writing high fantasy is not for the hobbyist. It takes perseverance, cleverness, and lots of dedicated time. I'm currently completing the second phase of world building for a high fantasy series that's been haunting my waking and dreaming hours for quite some time. About three years actually. Adara Trosclair, for whom this blog is named …

Quotes to Write By – Day 26 . . . with a Freebie!

 In a previous post, I discussed Octavia Butler's thoughts on inspiration vs habit. Habit is worth cultivating. Inspiration when it comes to writing will do little for the writer. Writing every day or as much as one can is a best practice. Initially, I planned on continuing the Quotes to Write By series for 60 …

Quotes to Write By – Day 25

Last night, I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning. A picture book idea came to me and I simply had to write it! I completed the first draft within four hours at 1275 words. I've always loved picture books and adore the time I share with my two youngest sons reading them and reveling …

Quotes to Write By – Day 20

In an earlier post of the "Quotes to Write By" series I cited Mervin Block's quote "nouns are the bones that give a sentence body. But verbs are the muscles that make it go." Well, let's have a little discussion about adjectives and adverbs.   Believe it or not, these descriptive parts of speech can …