Category: Uncategorized

Going West: Deep Magic…

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller3 Comments

This is a wonderful story with photos. My imagination was totally captured with references to King Author’s Stone and Narnia.

France & Vincent

Wales 222

I’d seen the name when I’d planned the route… though ‘planned’ may be stretching things a bit far; I had a vague idea and my companion had a map. From Kilpeck to Rhyader, somewhere near which we would find our hotel, there are perfectly good ‘A’ roads and the fifty mile trip should take no more than about an hour. But with a ‘B’ road that passes through something called Golden Valley, and through villages with names like Kingstone and Dorstone before leading you up a track called Arthur’s Stone Lane… well, the ‘A’ roads were never really an option. Especially when I’d seen ‘King Arthur’s Stone’ marked in telltale brown on the map.

Wales 196

Not that we had any idea what King Arthur’s Stone might be. “Probably just an erratic,” and if so, we would probably miss it. Such things are seldom signposted and one odd boulder in a field…

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Telling Sonny, a novel by Elizabeth Gauffreau

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller3 Comments

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Author, Elizabeth Gauffreau, totally immerses the reader into a by gone time, a time when vaudeville shows captured the imagination of both young and old. It was also a time of innocence. It is 1924 in a rural town in Vermont where time seems to move at a snail’s pace. Or so it seems to Faby, a young girl on the cusp of adulthood. Newly graduated from high school, Faby is waiting for her life to begin. When a handsome young man, a hoofer in the vaudeville show that has entranced Faby, shows interest in her, Faby’s choice leads her into a life for which she is unprepared. Author, Gauffreau, tells Faby’s story with depth and poignancy. This novel is deeply researched and rich with details of life in the early part of the century. With the ease of a writer who knows her craft, the author immerses the reader not only into a bygone time, but into the mindset of a young girl grappling with the unexpected turn her life has taken. It is also a story of family and of the ties that bind.
Poignant and beautifully written, I highly recommend this remarkable novel.

Interview: Women’s Fiction Writers Association

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller1 Comment

I’m so excited about this novel. Liz is a remarkable writer.

Elizabeth Gauffreau

I am very pleased to share that I was recently interviewed by Maggie Smith of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association for the podcast “Hear Us Roar.” I roar to Maggie about my debut novel Telling Sonny: what the book is about, the process of researching and writing it, and the road to publication.

https://www.womensfictionwriters.org/debut-author-podcast–elizabeth-gauffreau

And of what relevance is the header photograph for this post, you might ask? Why, it’s my very-pleased-with-my-little-self face, of course!

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How to Use PowerPoint to Outline your Story into a Storyboard

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller10 Comments

 

I love using a storyboard  to outline my chapters. PowerPoint makes this easy:

  • Once you set up the platform design, it is so easy to revise and edit your outline.
  • It is very easy to move individual chapters around either in the storyboard itself or
  • By moving the chapter slides on the left side of the page as you revise your story
  • I love to highlight important elements within the chapters using different colors.
  • Once you are satisfied with each chapter outline, or slide, print it out for viewing.
  • I keep my outlines in a binder for quick reviewing.

Life Lyrics

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller8 Comments

Her Heart     Life Lyrics ©2020

Her mind-numbing life

her relentless job

ringing up groceries

him sauntering up

slapping down a pack of gum

winking at her

with a bold brown eye

her blue eyes fluttering

him licking his lips

making his move

Metallic blue eyeliner

lips the color of a bruise

he smiles

thinking he knows her type

Now she’s gone and done it

caught his eye

she looks younger than she is

sweet youth, dewy-eyed

an object of desire and jealousy

vulnerable at times

but she is a keen observer

of sly grins and brown eyes

knows the pitfalls and potholes

fearless sometimes

most often desperate

He is not her dream

but he is here

wanting her

brown eyes

drawing her in

she’s been here before

on the losing end

He promises everything

gives her nothing

but a single drawer

and crumpled sheets

covers her with hot kisses

While she tastes

his lying breath

He wants more

always more of her

brown eyes slant

his lantern jaw tight

a curl of fists

She is caught

against a wall

biting her lip

Her hands shaking

she covers bruises

colored purple

applies makeup

fingers to swollen lips

painted red

She smooths the cheap

yellow dress he bought

listens for his steps

knows the odds

are against her

praying he’s forgotten

his black mood

with every beat of her heart

He sneers a grin

pulls at her

hands hard against

her blue veined skin

breathless she awaits

his snores

She’s saved cash

a fist full of crumpled green

enough to take her

somewhere, anywhere

away from him.

The grimy bus windows

fogged with gray rain

reflect a ghost

her backpack with

everything she owns

caught between her

muddied sneakers

the miles passing

with every beat of her heart.