Category: How To and Tips
On Facts in Fiction: Sinkholes and Breadcrumbs
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines research as “the activity of getting information about a subject,” but every writer knows the true definition is “the squandering of eternities on the Internet under the guise of checking stuff.” Writers are a curious lot, so the invitation to explore a new city, an unusual job or a soap brand from […]
Six Top tips on writing characters
I had to cut 49,000 words from the 100,000 word manuscript of my third book, The Silk Shop in Hanoi. Of my two point of view characters, one wasn’t working. I tinkered, I edited, I tore my hair, and yes, I swore, but the character was still wrong and had to go. It was heartbreaking […]
Girls and Trains: How a Title can impact on Sales
When I wrote my second psychological thriller, it was originally called Dead in her Tracks. My agent at the time, decided it would benefit from a better title and we settled on Girl on a Train. Now, to many of you, that might sound familiar – or does it? At least a year after my […]
When to Keep Secrets and When to Tell Truths
Good fiction starts with a good story. Good historical fiction adds a well researched and articulated sense of time and place. Good historical fiction based on a well-documented era in one’s own family provides an author the rare opportunity to bring a loved one’s legacy to the future. Writing my recently released novel, Even in […]
How To Write a Nonfiction Proposal
We’ve all been there – you’ve been secretly scribbling away, researching, collecting interesting sources or articles, and googling like mad. Finally, one day you think, “Could I take my secret project and turn it into a real book? Would anyone want to publish it, or even read it?” In my particular case, I had yet […]
Top 10 Tips for Aspiring Authors
I don’t proclaim to be a best-selling author or a writing expert. I don’t have a hundred books or ten years of being published under my belt. I have only been published for eighteen months (though in that time I have had three short stories, five novellas and two full length novels released – so […]
How To Handle Rejection: Six Tips
The lives of creative people fascinate me. As far back as I can recall, I have devoured biographies and interviews with performing artists—singers, actors, dancers, even famous models. Often I read how some celebrated actress has faced repeated rejections, only to triumph finally with a huge hit—the breakthrough role that made her career. I learned […]
What Bugs Me As A Reader
I finished a novel last night and I hated it! It began well, great characters with potential. Then, halfway through, the main character is shot dead. The family moves away and the husband heads off somewhere foreign to start a new life, leaving his two little kids with an aunt who never featured before. The […]
The Passion to Teach, the Courage to Write
Hands trembling, she skulks up the center aisle as if she is walking the proverbial plank. After she shakily giggles and glances around the room, I offer her a reassuring smile. I know, however, I’m not what she fears. Even her staring peers aren’t her biggest enemy right now. She is battling a raging beast […]
How To Ignite Your Creativity, The Artist’s Way
Do you ever feel as if your creativity needs a boost? You may know Julia Cameron, the author of The Artist’s Way, is a multi-talented artist and bestselling author respected for her simple and structured approach to helping artists across disciplines discover and nurture their creativity. Ms. Cameron’s belief that each individual is innately creative […]
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