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Holly Phaneuf Erskine
Door County, WI
I love to write, science and fiction. If my writings help or simply give joy, I am fulfilled.
Interests: Science, medicine, health, caregiving, music, harp, chemistry, medicinal chemistry, botany, astronomy, writing, cats, environment, meditation, neuroscience, fiction
Recent Activity
September, like all S-words, is an alien color, impossible to describe
But I will try. The beginning of each month gives me an opportunity to share my synesthetic perceptions. I have always involuntarily perceived text as colored. This is called grapheme-colored synesthesia. I also have colored hearing, or chromesthesia. Like most synesthetes who see colored text, I associate every letter with... Continue reading
Posted Aug 31, 2024 at Neurodiversity/Synesthesia
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August is a breathy red
My gut says that anyone who sees A in a color other than red is wrong and it feels sorry for them. As you can see, my gut is not the brightest thing in the world, but I like to let it have its say every now and then, which shuts it up for a while.
The persistence of certain associations has stimulated a lot of philosophical and scientific debate. Could it be that the open mouth, saying Ah, looks red? Or that the most fundamental, first letter would get the most primary color? Uncommon letters tend to get unusual colors, and that is true with me too. A is red, B is blue, C is yellow, D is solid brown...but less common letters are more nuanced for me, like X being silver, or Z is a very specific shade of maroon. Continue reading
Posted Aug 1, 2024 at Neurodiversity/Synesthesia
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My latest query, happily course-corrected
"Holly, it's not a standalone," he said, smiling kindly, when I explained how book 1 ended.
But then he said I simply query it "as book one of a trilogy." He later added that I am to say that books 2 and 3 are outlined.
My mouth dropped open. "You can do that?" I felt stupid. Because I am stupid.
He assured me it was done all the time, even with debut authors. Continue reading
Posted Jul 26, 2024 at Fiction
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The Trouble with Trilogies (and series) and, because of this, yet one more query revision
Here is another tale about how I was wrong, so you don’t have to be. Lucky for you, I am often wrong, so I’ve got a lot of these tales. Booster is exhausted by all of this. Once upon a time, I felt smart and dutiful by mostly completing a... Continue reading
Posted Jul 14, 2024 at Fiction
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Query for book 1 (yet another revision)
I keep revising my query. It's needed. For the three of you out there who are glued to every twist and turn of my query revision drama, you will already know I've posted one version, and then another. More advice from one of Manuscript Academy's experienced agents informs me what... Continue reading
Posted Jul 7, 2024 at Fiction
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How much magnesium in my vitamin C?
Hi Holly, I'm a chemistry major, and I thought I should be able to answer this question, but I'm not sure how to go about it. I take a form of vitamin C which, according to the label, is “magnesium ascorbate”. Wouldn’t this also contain some magnesium? Is there a... Continue reading
Posted Jul 5, 2024 at Chemistry
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June and July are both reddish purple, with subtle differences.
The beginning of each month gives me an opportunity to share my synesthetic perceptions. I have always involuntarily perceived text as colored. This is called grapheme-colored synesthesia. I also have colored hearing, or chromesthesia. Today, the reddish-purple JUNE transitions to another reddish-purple month, JULY, but I can tell these words... Continue reading
Posted Jul 1, 2024 at Neurodiversity/Synesthesia
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Revised synopsis for book 1
I've revised my synopsis for book 1. My goal was clearer descriptions of subplot resolution for characters' arcs. I thought hard about all the character arcs. How they mostly resolve, but not completely at the end of book 1: The Time Bomb From Outer Space: Day One, Discovery. Series can... Continue reading
Posted Jun 29, 2024 at Fiction
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Query for book 1 (revised!)
I've revised my literary agent query letter for book 1 of my trilogy. This is based on kind, actionable advice I received through Manuscript Academy with literary agent Chelsea Hensley. Manuscript Academy allows you to have a ten-minute consultation with any one of an impressive array of experienced agents and... Continue reading
Posted Jun 29, 2024 at Fiction
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Similar works (for book 1)
Some literary agents request "similar works". This is in addition to your two standard "comps" (comparables) that are always part of a query letter. I just polished up a list for my book 1, The Emissary and the Time Bomb from Outer Space: Day One, Discovery. I began with the... Continue reading
Posted Jun 23, 2024 at Fiction
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May is black but June is reddish-purple. With nuances.
The beginning of each month is a chance to share my synesthetic perceptions. I have always involuntarily perceived text as colored. Today, the rich, deep, midnight black of May transitions into the reddish purple of June. There is more nuance, though, that I am leaving out, which is harder for... Continue reading
Posted Jun 1, 2024 at Neurodiversity/Synesthesia
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Query for book 1
I'm surprised to have really, truly enjoyed paring down my book from 127K words to 119K words (removing words like really and truly, and for example, for example. For more information on how I chopped, read here.) This took a few months of concerted work. Chapter by chapter. I had... Continue reading
Posted May 30, 2024 at Fiction
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Sneak Peek: prelude to an awareness walk
For this holiday weekend, a sneak peek at my book. I'm just about to start querying literary agents for book 1 of the Emissary trilogy. Books 2 and 3 are also complete, but need trimming. This has no spoilers. I hope you enjoy it. --Holly Phaneuf Erskine Chapter Thirty Andy... Continue reading
Posted May 27, 2024 at The Emissary Movie
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Sneak Peek: prelude to an awareness walk
For this holiday weekend, a sneak peek at my book.
I'm just about to start querying literary agents for book 1 of the Emissary trilogy. Books 2 and 3 are also complete, but need trimming.
This has no spoilers. I hope you enjoy it.
--Holly Phaneuf Erskine Continue reading
Posted May 27, 2024 at Fiction
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Sketches of Neva by Peg
She went chanting e.e. cummings in the hallway at 8:25 before class, giving us the faces called flowers and the dancing mountains and darling, giving everything away because keeping is nothing and darkness.
"I know what it is to be old and striving after the unreachable,” she said, risking the big failures, going out too far. “The beauty, the glory is the not knowing until you try and the persistence.”
She touches living passionately. Continue reading
Posted May 8, 2024 at Genealogy/family
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Hi Lisa,
I recognize your name. It's popped up a lot in Neva's files, and I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to connect. I am so grateful you reached out. I was too busy with my career to take Neva's workshops! But somehow I inherited her passion for therapeutic journaling. My husband just marveled that one of my digitized diaries had, according to my computer, over a million words in it. That's nothing, I say. I've been journaling every day for decades. We write to keep people alive, as Natalie Goldberg said.
Neva was asked for her "dying words of advice" and she said "make connections." As an introvert with sensory issues, that's extra tricky, but I love throwing out these threads and seeing what sticks and what I might uncover. Maybe a gem will pop up, like you did!
I would love to know, also, if you met my mother, Neva's daughter Judy, who would have been living with Neva in the 90's at Dulce Domum. She might have been struggling at the time with the Alzheimers that claimed her life in 2021. Anyway, I'll contact you and we'll see how we can connect further. Just following Neva's instructions.
Neva Daniel: never to old to go back to school
I accidentally brought up, on my computer today, a digitized page from a 30-year-old diary that had a timely message for me on it. From my grandmother. It's an excerpt from which showcases my mom's mom's personality. As a college professor, she supported my own graduate studies. She was one clas...
Total solar eclipse footage, 2017 and 2024
Here’s a couple of total solar eclipses for you. I'm lucky to have seen three: Feb 26, 1998, on the island of Aruba Aug 17, 2017, Mitchell, Oregon April 8, 2024, Russelville, Arkansas Each required a lot of planning in advance to get (fly, drive, sail) into the path of... Continue reading
Posted May 4, 2024 at Astronomy
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Neva Daniel: never to old to go back to school
This excerpt from one of my ancient diaries caught my eye for a few reasons. I remembered how Neva was always getting into the next exciting thing, regardless of her age. Lately I have been wondering if I should go back to grad school, and feeling too old at 58.
Neva was always into something new. Ira Progoff's intensive journaling. A Course in Miracles. Anything by Angeles Arrien. She insisted on getting aquainted with this "interesting young Indian fellow" who turned out to be Deepak Choprah, before he got famous.
And when Neva was 80, according to my mother, she became enamored of Eugene Gendlin's Focusing technique . My mom was impressed that Neva flew from Colorado to Chicago to learn from Gendlin himself.
At age 80. Continue reading
Posted Mar 5, 2024 at Genealogy/family
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Sneak peek: The story begins
Although this is chapter 3, I've toyed with starting my book here. Why? It's the first modern-day chapter, plus more representative of the overall tone of my book. The first two chapters are set in 1975 and have a more serious tone than the rest of the book. At a... Continue reading
Posted Feb 21, 2024 at The Emissary Movie
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Sneak peek: the story begins
Although this is chapter 3, I've toyed with starting my book here. Why? It's the first modern-day chapter, plus more representative of the overall tone of my book. The first two chapters are set in 1975 and have a more serious tone than the rest of the book. At a... Continue reading
Posted Feb 21, 2024 at Fiction
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Are You Happy?
When my mom was cogent, she used to enjoy telling me, “The Dalai Lama says that the purpose of life is to be happy.” She would go on to say that if people around you are suffering, you can’t really be happy, so in a way this is a directive... Continue reading
Posted Feb 1, 2024 at Meditation/mindfulness
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My painful happy word limit crisis
I just had a painful writing crisis. I’m thrilled this happened. I should explain. I was in the process of querying literary agents for the first book in my science fiction trilogy. Generally, the accepted upper limit for word count for fiction is 100,000 words. Science fiction and fantasy traditionally... Continue reading
Posted Jan 7, 2024 at Fiction
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Recently published book suggestions for my comps, please!
Do you read a lot of fiction? I need well-read people like you to suggest recently published books for my "comps". Recently published means 2020-2024. What’s a comp? Comps are comparable works, which an agent uses to pitch a manuscript to publishers. The standard is to provide two comps. Not... Continue reading
Posted Jan 4, 2024 at Fiction
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Sneak peek at chapter 1, book 2 of the Emissary Trilogy
My husband and I made a movie. I then wrote a trilogy loosely based on our movie. Here's the first chapter of book 2: The Emissary and the Clue in the Cheese Curds. Chapter 1 Jim Morgen Jim woke to a riot of noise. Keeping his eyes squeezed shut, he... Continue reading
Posted Dec 27, 2023 at The Emissary Movie
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Sneak peek: Chapter 1, Emissary book 2: The Clue in the Cheese Curds
Chapter 1 Jim Morgen Jim woke to a riot of noise. Keeping his eyes squeezed shut, he groaned, rubbing his forehead. Chirps and tweets and whistles rose as a dream faded, with Andy dragging him into the Green Bay Oneida casino. He felt his face wince as he recalled the... Continue reading
Posted Dec 27, 2023 at Fiction
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