I love the “cold” mysteries. Those set in the cold regions–Sweden, Iceland, Norway. Why do I love those books? I love the settings. The characters are all excellent as well, but its the settings that keep me coming back time and again. In Henning Mankell’s series the setting, a small town in Sweden, plays as […]
My #BookReview Five Quarters of the Orange–5 Stars
Joanne Harris, best known for Chocolat, writes about village life in France better than anyone #amreading Click To Tweet In Chocolat she created a magical place, full of interesting characters with all kinds of flaws. In Five Quarters of the Orange she does the same. But, this time, she adds quite a bit of mystery […]
Tips for Underwriting your Overwriting
As a writer who creates something from nothing, I often catch myself overwriting. If you are a big name writer, editors leave your overwriting in your books and readers learn to skim and sigh. If you’re not so famous, you must catch your own overwriting and learn to under write. By under write, I mean […]
Tips to Make Your Characters Interesting
As a writer, I’m always thinking about my characters. What can they do to move the story along? Who are their friends? What passions do they have? Where do they like to go? What music do they listen to? Much of what I know about my character, I do not share with the reader. If […]
Writing Tips–What Tense Do You Write in?
As writers, one of the decisions we all must make is what tense to use #writingtips Click To Tweet Past or present. Most writer guides suggest that new writers use the past tense. Why? Writing in the past is the best way to tell a story #writingtips Click To Tweet Most stories do not happen […]
A Title That Says It all–#MeBeforeYou
I just finished reading #MeBeforeYou and was enthralled @jojomoyes Click To Tweet The book captured me with it’s simplicity and depth. As a writer I learn the most from reading. Fiction writers who don’t read fiction have no business writing novels #writingtips Click To Tweet Indeed, we all learn from each other. My last post […]
Do You Write Literary Fiction? Take this Quiz to Find Out
My husband just asked me if I wrote literary fiction. I explained that I write commercial fiction. He inquired, “What’s the difference.” Then I got all tongue-tied trying to explain the difference between literary fiction and commercial fiction. I decided to give myself a quiz to see what in the world I wrote. Take this […]
Tips about Researching Fiction–Joan Says
Joan Curtis, author of The Clock Strikes Midnight, shares writing tips and lessons #writingtips Click To Tweet This video addresses the research that needs to be done when writing fiction. Take a look and share your ideas! What do you research and how do you do it? Before your writing or after?
Let’s Talk Villains
How bad do we make our villains? As a writer, I sometimes find the villains in the stories I read more compelling than the good-guys. What about you, do you agree? One of the best villains I’ve run across was in Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd. This villain was pretty awful. He was a hired […]
First Sentence Launches Your Novel
Wouldn’t it be nice to get some feedback on your first sentence–that all important sentence that launches your novel? Why not? I’m sure that some fellow writers out there could give me some advice and I’m also sure that some fellow readers could throw in their two cents. We know that the first paragraph of […]
