by Sandra Orchard “Spies?” you say. “But I don’t write suspense.” I’m talking about spies that will give you the inside scoop on the things you don’t know, and on the things that you don’t know that you don’t know. Why? So you can write believable fiction, and give readers unexpected insider details. SciFi and Spec writers don’t stop reading. …
Writing the Author Bio
by Laurie Alice Eakes One thing authors are often asked to create is an author bio anywhere from 50 words, to 150 words. We need to introduce ourselves to a new listserve. We need to place one in proposals to editors and agents, we need one for the copy in our books, we need one on our web sites… In …
Six Things I learned (about writing) from watching my dachshunds…
By Elizabeth Ludwig Okay, so I admit it…I’m a freak about my dachshunds. I absolutely love to watch them play. So imagine my enjoyment when the two I had, multiplied to six adorable puppies! I learned quite quickly that each one is vastly different from the others, and not just in temperament. They have distinct personalities, which of course, tied …
Have You Ever Felt Small? Advice for Writing and Life
by Kathleen Y’Barbo Have you ever felt small? Really, really small? The kind of small where someone could walk right past and not even notice you? Maybe it’s the people in your world who just don’t seem to know you’re there. Or it’s a goal you’ve long since given up accomplishing because it seems there are so many others doing …
Platforms Ain’t Just for Shoes
by Ane Mulligan In the court of publishing, if story is king, platform is queen. There are a lot of good novels so how do you stand out? By having a ready-made readership before you’re published. Editors look for Internet presence. When they Google your name, what do they find? I’ve spent a few years building my web presence. Google …
Is Your Blog Secure?
by Michael Lee Joshua There have been so many incidents of hacking email accountss, but we sometimes don’t take the proper care to secure our blogs. Having built a number of blogs or websites on the WordPress platform in the past year for clients has made it obvious to me that our blogs must be secured too. You might wonder …
Words, Camera…and Action!
by Bonnie Calhoun What comes mind when I say those words? Typically someone would think of a movie set in the oldun’ days. Someone had a tripod camera and a megaphone and a snappy board with numbers on it. I want you to try this when you’re writing an action scene. The idea is to get you to look at …
Writing Older Characters
by Lisa J Lickel It’s my birthday today! I’m fifty-one. Made it-yippee. I know, thank you, I don’t look it. But of course I can’t help thinking about age, my family, my friends, and my characters. Commercial and pop fiction isn’t only about sweet early twenty-somethings. The later thirties are not very interesting because we’re too busy with normal life. …
The Bridge-Using Symbolism to Connect
by Sarah Sundin In high school English, I disliked questions about story symbolism. Ironically, finding and using symbolism in my own novels is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. Symbolism connects the reader to the deeper meaning in your story. Finding Symbolism Symbolism is best discovered rather than imposed. Often symbols arise from the character-who she is …
Why Do First Manuscripts So Often Get Rejected?
by Nikki Arana The biggest reason that new writers receive rejections is because they send out their manuscripts before they’re ready. Quite often emerging writers think when they finish their first ms that they have a book that is ready for the marketplace. In almost all cases, that isn’t true. If it has been written with the guidance of a …