Author Information
Michael LaRocca
Member since 26th August 2005
Occupation: Teacher Michael moved to China in December 1999. He edited an English-language educational magazine in Hong Kong, then moved to mainland China and became a teacher. He has worked as a fiction editor for several U.S. publishers via the Internet, and has been involved with the publication of almost 200 novels. He also works as a legal transcriptionist for a Hong Kong firm.
Displaying 1 to 15 (of 21 articles)
09th September 2005
Pumpkin, The Halloween Cat
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
The neighbor's car pulled into my driveway. She got out holding a stranger in her arms.
"I found this cat in my yard. Is he yours?"
"No."
"Oh. I thought he was."
"Well, he's not."
...
Views: 381
09th September 2005
Why Do We Do This?
Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca
A major "character" in Mark Salzman's first autobiography is his
father. Sometimes his father paints. But his father hates
painting. He likes it when his painting is done. He likes having
painted. ...
Views: 232
07th September 2005
Print On Demand - A Definition and a Comparison
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
The purpose of this article is to consider Print-On-Demand
publishing as an alternative for the aspiring author. It has its
strengths and its weaknesses. You may wonder ...
Views: 355
07th September 2005
Frosty, The Wandering Vagabond Cat
Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca
For a long time, we had a four-pet home. Daisy the border collie mix and Bebe the dachshund/doberman mix. Witchie and Taz, the Siamese couple. Pumpkin wandered into this mess for a dis...
Views: 229
07th September 2005
Comma Usage Made Simple
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
Don't they drive you nuts?
You can visit all the rules of style you want, and you can read
all the books and articles you want. You'll still be confused.
You'll see inconsistency. You'll s...
Views: 786
07th September 2005
Apostrophe Usage Made Simple
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
According to one of my previous articles, whenever a Southerner
says "Y'all watch this," get out of the way because those are
probably the last words he will ever say.
Well, I'm a South...
Views: 715
01st September 2005
Writer School?
Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca
Here's something from my mailbag. "Dear Michael, do you need to
do good in school if you want to be a writer? I stink at school
and all my friends laugh at me when I tell them I want to write,
but I'm ...
Views: 220
01st September 2005
Daisy and Bebe
(The Pinnacle of Canine Evolution meets the dregs)
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
We bought Peaches, a horse who I'd eventually breed, and who would learn how to drink a bottle of beer without spilling a drop. At first, Peaches shared...
Views: 234
31st August 2005
Voice in Narrative and Dialogue
A Contrast Of Writing Styles
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
One of the nice things about being an author is that we can break
any rule we want. (I just did.) It's part of our job description.
Language changes thro...
Views: 232
31st August 2005
Daisy - Part One
Copyright 2004, Michael Larocca
One weekend, Lisa and I visited the Humane Society. We looked at their dogs, and had pretty much settled on a beautiful tan mutt, a girl named Rocky. We wanted a girl, in theory less likely to stray.
...
Views: 251
31st August 2005
Get Rich Writing Fiction
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
Some of us write simply because we can't not write. Ideas grab
us, move us, and demand to be written. We strive to make it as
real as we possibly can, to improve at our craft every day,
hop...
Views: 233
31st August 2005
Learning How To Write
Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca
As a student of Spanish, my goal was to think in Spanish. Skip
the word-by-word translation so I'd have the necessary speed to
speak and listen. I know words in Spanish that I'd be hard
presse...
Views: 224
31st August 2005
Hong Kong Calico
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
"Dogs have masters;
Cats have staff."
Picasso was born in February 2000. According to local astrology,
the Year of the Dragon. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? I rescued
her from the SPCA in Sep...
Views: 137
28th August 2005
How Not To Get Published
Copyright 2001 Michael LaRocca
If someone had told me in 2000 that I'd publish four books in
2001, I'd have called him an eejit.
The last time I'd been published was 1989, and that doesn't
count because I paid someone t...
Views: 211
28th August 2005
Hurricane Cats
Copyright 2005, Michael LaRocca
You like cats, don't you?
Some people don't like cats.
Daddy doesn't like cats. Daddy's best friend, Bill Ball, loves his cats. Their names are Clipper and Keebles.
Clipper and Keebles are large ...
Views: 287
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