Category: How To and Tips
On Writing A Deux, or How to Co-Author in a Cross-Country Friendship
by Carol Kerr and Linda Edelstein, co-authors of Not The Trip We Planned In the early 1980s, Linda Edelstein and I made a vow we would someday write a mystery together because it would be so much more fun than our dissertations. We were plowing through a psychology doctoral program at Northwestern. She was a […]
SMART TALK 101: HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS BETTER CONVERSATIONALISTS
By Christina Hamlett For as many conversations as we chatter in or listen to every day, capturing that same rhythm and realism in a project for page, stage or screen is no small challenge. Too often the result is characters who (1) all talk in exactly the same voice, (2) talk more formally/rigidly/eloquently than normal […]
The Birth of a Thriller
By Iris Glazner Leigh There is no magic to writing a book. I can safely say that, as it took me eleven years of editing, rewriting, and sifting through rejections from publishers and agents to bring Liza’s Secrets from inception to publication. Throughout that process I remained determined to tell the story, a cautionary tale […]
Jill Amy Sager: On Writing
According to my cousin Deena, I’ve lived my life unencumbered by traditional expectations. When she mentioned this about thirty years ago, I didn’t relate to her observation, although looking back, this lack of self-awareness is hard to believe. I know that being born with a physical disability has had something to do with my ability […]
Finding My Way Through the Dark: On Substack
By Beth Kephart The Substack experts have advice for those seeking to carve out a place on this online platform that offers authors a chance to build both a newsletter and an audience. How to convert non-paying subscribers to paying ones via the strategic use of paywalls. How to write less and earn more. How […]
Writing The Woven Memoir by Rebe Huntman
How to let go and allow the threads of your story find one another by Rebe Huntman When I attended graduate school for creative nonfiction in the early 2000s, writing that diverged from linear narrative was often looked at with suspicion, as if the writer was intentionally trying to be circuitous because they were incapable […]
Reviews: An Intergenerational Rant by Rachel Stone
Before I published a book, I understood reviews were important in much the same way I once understood, intellectually, that childbirth was uncomfortable. Now (as I scour my bookshelves, retroactively posting reviews of every title I’ve ever enjoyed, while calling up moms with kids older than mine to apologize), I understand. Reviews are important to authors […]
Historical Fiction: In Search of Little-Known Stories
By Julie Hartley In October 2022 I came across an article about the SS City of Benares, a requisitioned cruise liner that set out from England in September 1940 carrying evacuees to safety in Canada. The ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat in stormy weather, far from land. Dozens of children died as the […]
Give Yourself Credit for Showing Up
by Raquel Drosos “Never stop creating.” This is what I write above my signature in every book I autograph. But for a long stretch last year, I stopped following my own advice—and found myself in a bad place. Let me back up. I’m the author of two novels: Games of Chance, a coming-of-age family saga, […]
8 Author Tips to Avoid Body-Shaming in Your Books
By Paulette Stout Our culture is obsessed with body size. It just is. Especially this time of year. How large or small someone’s body is often becomes more consequential to our perceptions of them than who they are as a people. One glance and we’ve already assessed their health, worth ethic, romantic prospects, intelligence, and […]
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