August 2016 | In the Service of Words: Fidelis Semper

Mother, Friend, and Honey: Not good choices as your editor.

August 25, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

A friend of mine, Marcus Dewan Williams, owns a highly successful independent bookstore. He posted this on Facebook: Too many self-published authors are putting out LOW QUALITY books. POOR cover designs. POOR typesetting. POOR grammar and etc. smh From the beginning Marcus has supported those who couldn't get a publishing deal…

Novels, Songs, Planning, and Future Growth

August 24, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

My regular readers know I'm working on a novel series branded as Dance Floor Wars, and that I'm pushing Durden Kell as the John Le Carré of Love. My regular readers also know I'm writing songs to go with those books and the movies that will follow. It's called planning…

The heat is on: Media elitist whines

August 21, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

More Americans than ever before distrust the mainstream media. Newspaper and magazine circulations? Down. News and Gotcha shows' viewership? Down. Twitter usage? Massive growth until they started manipulating what they approved of. Now down. Nobody's surprised at this except for the 6% of the population who still believe everything the media writes…

Goodwill, Waffle House, train wrecks, and 15th century comedians

August 20, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

When old folks die, nobody wants their books. So relatives load them up and off they go to Goodwill where I find a lot of books I would never have known about or that can hardly be found anymore. [caption id="attachment_682" align="alignleft" width="138"] Stephen Greenblatt[/caption] A book I recently found…

Gordon Unplugged: Shake it up…if you can

August 19, 2016August 15, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

[This is about a real-life man from the blog of Gordon Wesley Asbury, a fictional character in the Dance Floor Wars novels.] Upon contemplating suicide early in his adulthood, Buckminster Fuller had a vision. Suspended inside a sphere of light, Ol' Bucky heard a voice say, “From now on you…

Edit like Gene Kelly dances

August 15, 2016August 10, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

[wpdevart_youtube]wlvzGT1Ta2w[/wpdevart_youtube] One of the most spectacular dances in the history of film, Gene Kelly's choreography was of such a standard that a special Oscar was created that year in recognition of his achievement. But what has this dance got to with editing words? Simply this: What you see on the screen was…

Video/Radio: Durden Interview on BRX

August 10, 2016June 17, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

[wpdevart_youtube]EAx2a6eBd18[/wpdevart_youtube] Hey, have you read Angela's books? Get them here.

Don’t fall in love with your words. Leave them wanting more.

August 10, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

Writers want their works read, so it's always nice to hear from readers. It is especially nice when you hear the same thing over and over: I wanted more. In my memoir, Twinkle, many have asked why I did not list the gory details of the many instances of abuse. I…

Ma’am! Yes, ma’am!

August 2, 2016August 2, 2016 by Angela K. Durden

Angela K. Durden

Dear Mr. —, Excellent. I see my feedback is already working. Your reply is two perfectly spelled and punctuated sentences whose meanings are extremely clear: You hate me. Awesome. You've got a little bit of fight in your gut. Maybe you are a real writer after all. Maybe. However, your response shows…