Just Write

Writing settles my soul —Rachael Herron

Today’s “Just Write” post is an excerpt of Holly Robinson’s interview of Rachael Herron. (Edited for brevity. Click on Huffpost link below to read entire interview.) Holly Robinson writes: One of my favorite things about being a writer is having the chance to meet other writers whose books I admire. I probably admire few books as much as I do Splinters of Light, my new friend Rachael Herron’s powerful, poignant, and surprisingly comic novel inspired by a People magazine article about the impact of early-onset Alzheimer’s on a woman and her family. In the hands of another writer, this topic could be dreary and depressing, but Rachael spins a story of resilience and love that leaves you believing in the healing power of family and forgiveness. Splinters of Light is a reading experience you won’t soon forget. Here’s a look at how Rachael works — she’s a prolific author of romance novels,…

Just Write

Write authentically about difficult subjects

I recently read an outstanding novel, Splinters of Light, by Rachael Herron, “a poignant and beautiful novel about love, loss, and the unbreakable bonds of family—particularly those between mothers, daughters, and sisters.” — Amazon In this full-of-heart novel, the mother has early onset Alzheimer’s disease. I wondered how Rachael could write so authentically and intimately about something she didn’t have personal experience with. This is the gift of a writer who knows how to research and turn that information into a compelling story. I asked her how she wrote so authentically about early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD). Her answer: “I love immersing myself in the worlds I write about, but I’ll admit this was a hard one. Because there’s no cure for early-onset Alzheimer’s, there are really no happy endings. So I had to read about and research families that were breaking apart, but still focus on the happy parts of…

Book Reviews

Splinters of Light by Rachael Herron

Rachael Herron has done an amazing job creating believable and likable characters, twins Nora and Mariana, and Nora’s teenage daughter, Elle. We journey with Nora as she navigates the tricky maze of a newly discovered disease and the equally difficult struggle as single parent to Elle. Herron writes with grace, love and authority about a difficult subject. I admire her ability to tackle a subject that isn’t easy to talk about: early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Towards the end, I stayed up into the wee hours, reading. I had to find out what would happen to these characters I grew to love. Brilliant writing, exquisite characters, excellent story line. Splinters of Light is one of the best books I have read. I adore . . . LOVE . . . these characters. They now live in my heart. Phew! Worked up a sweat typing this. Need some lemonade to cool down….

Just Write

Make characters real and likable.

Play around with different ways to describe characters in stories. Here are examples of how to make characters real and likable and how to capture readers’ interest. What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg “My mother was dressed in her beautiful yellow summer robe, the tie cinched evenly into a bow at the exact center of her waist, but her auburn hair was sticking up in the back, an occasional occurrence that I always hated seeing, since in my mind it suggested a kind of incompetence. It was an unruly cowlick, nearly impossible to tame — I knew this, having an identical cowlick of my own — but I did not forgive its presence on my mother. It did not go with the rest of her looks: her deep blue eyes, her thin, sculptured nose, her high cheekbones, her white, white skin — all signs, I was certain, of some distant…