When you can’t keep your eyes open as you read, do you keep reading? #amreading Click To Tweet My mother had a formula for deciding whether or not to finish a book. She’d take her age and subtract it by 100. If the book had not capture her by that number, she’d stop reading. As […]
The Challenges and Fun of Writing a Murder Mystery
In this video Joan talks about the challenges and the fun of #writing a murder #mystery. Click To Tweet As a writer, you must first figure out what kind of mystery you’re gonna write. Believe it or not, there are lots of sub-genres to the mystery world. Once you make that decision, you can start […]
#MyBookReview A Gentleman in Moscow–5 Stars
By the author of Rules of Civility comes A Gentleman in Moscow. Once again Amor Towles (@AmorTowles) writes with wit and skill to produce a book very much worth reading. If you loved Rules of Civility, you’ll gobble up A Gentleman in Moscow. It’s the story of a Count, (Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov) who returns […]
Similes, Metaphors, What in the World?
Beautiful writing paints word pictures #amwriting #writingtips Click To Tweet Talented writers know how to do this without overburdening the reader. Many new writers do not understand the difference between a simile and a metaphor nor do they understand how to use these figures of speech. Let’s first look at what in the world a […]
A Mystery with a Bad Good-Guy
I’m reading a mystery, Jo Nesbo’s The Son, with a bad good guy. I find myself cheering for him when he kills worse bad guys. But, he tends to kill them in the same way they’ve killed others, which isn’t pretty. It started me thinking about what creates suspense #amreading #amwriting Click To Tweet Usually […]
What is the Bane of Your Writing Existence?
Okay so all writers say they love writing. None will tell you the things that cause them headaches #amwriting Click To Tweet The things that make them want to pull their hair out and wish for another career. Instead, they’ll say what fun it is to create worlds and people and stories. And, yes, that’s […]
4 Common Mistakes in Punctuation
Part of writing is understanding punctuation. We all know what a period means, but do we understand the meaning of commas, semicolons, ellipses, dashes? As writers, we use punctuation to help us “express” what is on the written page. For that punctuation to work, we must all understand it. Most publishers use a traditional convention […]
Rainy Days and Sundays–Learning the Discipline of Writing
On beautiful crisp days when the sun is shining, it’s often hard to pull out the computer and plug away at that masterpiece. Our friends are going out biking or hiking up a magnificent mountain. Rainy days are a much better alternative. But, if you only write when it rains, it’s going to take you […]
What Hooks You?
I’ve often wondered what might hook my readers #amreading Click To Tweet Is it the characters? The plot? Unanswered questions? What kinds of things hook you and keep you reading? For me the characters are what keep me turning the pages. Some of the books I read have little plot, not much action, but I […]
Writers Helping Writers
Before I published my first novel, I contacted two previously published authors. One told me he never read another writer’s work. The other refused to help me in any way. I found these responses both disheartening and sad. Why is it writers refuse to help newbies? How are newbies ever going to break through without […]
