When Research is Too Much Fun Terry Odell Last time, I talked about throwing out the “Write What You Know” rule, and mentioned writing what you can learn. Sometimes, we authors get to have Too Much Fun doing just that. I recently attended a conference devoted to helping writers get it ‘right’ with all things […]
Book Releases—What’s the Right Interval? Nancy J. Cohen There’s a reason why publishers like book releases from authors to be months, if not years, apart. They need time to pass the manuscript from the developmental editor to the copy editor, from the page proof typesetter to the person who creates review copies. They need to […]
Writing a Series By Karla Brandenburg Many readers these days look for authors who can give them continuity in what they’re reading, a series. There are two approaches, continuing saga and recurring characters. In the continuing saga, like serial television, you generally want to start at the beginning and read in order. For recurring characters, […]
Great White Shark by Tina Whittle In Blood, Ash and Bone, the third novel in my Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series, I created a fictitious law enforcement agency, a task force collaboration between the Atlanta Police Department and the FBI. By the time the book was released, my pretend organization was real (it was called AMMO […]
Paper-Digital-Audio By Maggie Toussaint Inspired by the popular hand game Rock-Paper-Scissors, Paper-Digital-Audio is a microcosm of book formats in today’s marketplace. Individual preference plays a huge role in what book formats easily trump one another. I hope you’ll read Paper-Digital-Audio and comment on your choice of format. These days we have options for how we […]
Learning While Writing Terry Odell Congratulations to Connie Williamson, who won a cool Windswept Danger magnet and a download of the book. When I started writing, the first rule was “Write What You Know.” But aside from knowing any book I wrote that conformed to that rule would be boring as all get out, part […]
From Nurse to Writer By Nancy J Cohen People ask me if I’d ever considered writing a mystery series about a nurse. This is because I worked in nursing for ten years before I got married, had children, and retired. As a registered nurse and holding a master’s degree, you’d think I would have steered […]
Traveling for Inspiration By Karla Brandenburg I recently took a trip to Alaska, and for one of the few times in my life, I didn’t stop to put characters into the beautiful places that I visited. I like to travel, to see new places. Sometimes I take a trip with a story in mind based […]
Kennesaw Unconquered By Tina Whittle It’s always an odd feeling, when fiction and real life meet. It’s a crossroads moment – to the left, the world I created, with characters as I know as intimately as my own head. To the right, the world flowing under its own steam, with people of flesh and bone, […]
Who has enough time? By Maggie Toussaint Remember watching the grains of sand in an egg timer? The sand seems to flow really slowly at the beginning, then as more and more of the sand goes through, it appears to be racing through the neck of the hourglass. Lately, days and weeks have been racing […]
