by Christa Kinde Whenever I’m invited to talk about the Threshold Series, one question keeps cropping up. How do you pick names for your characters? While it might sound like I’m dodging the question, the honest answer is … it depends! I don’t have one set rule. But I do have four different approaches. I’ll even throw in some bonus …
Dealing with Ugly Envy
by Donna LH Smith Envy—according to Webster’s, it means feeling of discontent and ill will because of another’s advantages, possessions, etc., resentful disliked of another who has something that one desires. This goes back to Commandment #10: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…etc. It’s natural to want things for ourselves. When we’re unpublished, we want to be published. When …
The Book Review Conundrum
By Nora St. Laurent Authors want them because it helps sales and readers are not sure what to say in them so many don’t write them. Where do you find readers that will write reviews? We’ve heard of some creative ways authors have found new readers. They’ve thought outside the box. One author told us that she sold more books …
Backups and Miracles
By Rondi Olson My laptop made a grinding noise. I held it up to my co-worker, and asked if she could hear the sound, but before she could answer, the screen went blank. I wasn’t worried, at first. I restarted the computer, hoping that whatever was wrong would fix itself, but instead the grinding resumed, and an error message flashed …
Designing
By Christine Sunderland In the early stages of writing a novel, in the choosing of themes and characters, research must be done to create a grand design. In my novel-in-progress, (working title) Angel Mountain, I have chosen to write about the creation of the world in terms of evolutionary theory and genome mapping. I became intrigued, more and more, with …
Patience is a (Painfully Acquired) Virtue
By Linda Yezak Although my first novel didn’t release until 2011, I’ve been at this business for over twenty years. Learning to write. Learning to edit. Learning to read with an eye toward technique. Always learning. Still learning, even now with several titles and awards under my belt. But my bank account doesn’t reflect the amount of work I’ve put …
Writing for an Audience of One
By Kim Vogel Sawyer If you’re old enough, you’ll probably remember Ricky Nelson crooning, “You see, you can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.” (That’s grammatically incorrect, by the way, but it’s how it was sung, so….) It’s a rather self-serving statement, but there’s some truth to it. There really is no way for any decision to please …
The Writer in the Corner
by Chandra Lynn Smith I’ve been a professional dog trainer since 1988. A few years ago I trained a German Shepherd dangerous fear issues. I stood at the kennel, leash in hand and greeted her. She growled. For those of you who read my opening sentence and thought what a fun job, well, not always. I opened entered the kennel. …
Penchant Toward Drama
By Shirley E. Gould As writers, we create drama, set the scene and allow it to play out to bring our characters through the circumstances that threaten their happily-ever-after ending. It’s what we do when we create stories that grip our readers and take them on a journey through our prose. We study our craft to perfect our work, giving …
Learning the Truth About Forgiveness
by Marianne Evans One of the most daunting questions I’m asked as an author is: ‘What prompted you to write this book/approach this topic/dive into these characters?’ When it comes to my release, Forgiveness, I don’t want to offer what might seem to be a quick and easy answer like: ‘I wrote it to help readers discover the mercy and …