by Lisa Jordan I’m a sucker for happy endings. I admit it and make no apologies for it. I’ve heard complaints about romance novels being predictable-they end the same way with the hero and heroine concluding with the realization they’re in love and want to spend the rest of their lives together. Isn’t that the point of a romance? So, …
Do You Need That Character?
by Mary Connealy I’m doing an interesting and very educational thing with a book. The third book in the Kincaid Bride series which releases this August. Over the Edge, the crazy brother’s story. At my editor’s suggestion I’m taking out a character. Not taking out a character like I’m a a HITMAN or something, that would be rude. No, my …
Honest Criticism: What Every Writer Needs
by Fay Lamb A writer who will not listen to honest criticism of his work, who continues to march solo into his writing adventure without heeding the suggestions of others, is unlikely to fulfill his dreams of publication. And this is why critique partners are essential if you wish to grow and to achieve success as an author. A critique …
Thanks to Authors
by Lorraine Walker I have found the advice of established authors to be invaluable on my writing journey. To all of you who are inundated with deadlines, revisions, research, and marketing, please know that your writing tips, blog posts, and info on your websites are golden nuggets to others. You have lived the writer’s life and your expertise helps those …
Make a Difference with the Doing
By Davalynn Spencer This winter as I highlighted passages in a writer’s magazine, dog-eared favorite pages in a how-to book on fiction, and sucked the life-blood of encouragement from the tale of a successful writer’s personal journey, I recognized a note of familiarity. I’d read it all before. Was there nothing new under the publishing sun? Since embracing professional development …
How to Eat a Book Review
by Crystal Laine Miller The title is a rip-off from a poem I vaguely remember from grade school by Eve Merriam called “How to Eat a Poem.” It starts off like this: “Don’t be polite. Bite in. Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin. …” Eve alluded that reading a poem …
Happy Memories…Happy Writing
by Cathy Liggett This morning when I received a reminder about my scheduled date to blog, I initially thought about asking to postpone. My 90-year-old dad passed away last week and my mind has been as unfocused as a garden hose gone haywire, spraying out in all directions. But then I started thinking (and please forgive me ahead of time …
Dressing the Dog
by Ane Mulligan Who started this fashion trend? I can remember dressing the cat when I was a little girl. I still have the scars to show for it. But a dog dressed not for play but for real? I was watching House Hunters on HGTV the other night and this woman had her dog dressed in a different outfit …
Research Can Be Fun
by Lena Nelson Dooley Does researching a subject sound boring to you? I used to feel that way, too. Now research is a mainstay of my writing, whether I’m writing a contemporary or a historical novel. When I started writing Maggie’s Journey, book one of my McKenna’s Daughters series, I had a hard time picturing Seattle in 1885. That hindered …
Formatting a Manuscript
by Jill Williamson When I started writing, I didn’t know anything about how to properly format a manuscript. I gathered this information over the years from books and lectures and online and eventually figured it all out. But I’m a visual learner, and I had always wished that someone could have simply shown me how to do these things. A …