Category: How To and Tips
My Writing Journey by Nancy Thayer
By Nancy Thayer My first novel, Stepping, was published by Doubleday in 1980. What a long time ago! We were living in a fourth-floor walk-up apartment in Kulosaari, a suburb of Helsinki, Finland. I wrote the first six chapters by hand in a small notebook while my two children, two and four, were “taking naps […]
Author to Author: Faye Rapoport DesPres interviews Joan Schweighardt
Faye Rapoport DesPres interviews Joan Schweighardt about her new novel, Under the Blue Moon UNDER THE BLUE MOON An automobile accident in front of a homeless shelter causes Lola, a dog trainer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to renew her battle with grief. Ben, formerly an architect in the same city, has been abandoned by his family […]
My Journey in Publishing: Leslie Rasmussen
MY JOURNEY IN PUBLISHING Writing a novel is not an easy task, especially when you have no clue what you’re doing, but it’s nothing compared to actually getting the work published. My first novel took a lot of trial and error. I did everything to prepare before I actually started writing. I went to writing […]
Characters Lead the Way
As a long-form memoirist writer and teacher, I was taking on a big challenge when I embarked on the journey of writing historical fiction. I was familiar with the basics of writing, but to write fiction, I would get to, have to, make things up! How could I decide what fictional stories to create. Before […]
I Found My Muse in a Video: Here Are Four Things She Taught Me About Inspiration
One night during the early days of research for my novel, That You Remember, I stumbled upon a documentary video on YouTube. It was a raw, emotional chronicle of the aftermath of the Buffalo Creek disaster of 1972 in which three coal waste impoundments failed. Four thousand people lost their homes and 125 people lost their lives. […]
Five Tips for Writing a Novel with two or more Viewpoint Characters
Five tips for writing a novel with two or more viewpoint characters One of the challenges of writing a successful novel is to nail the main character’s voice. By imagining ourselves into the lives of the characters we create, writers assume a fictional identity that enables us to develop a voice which reflects the internal […]
5 Reasons Why… Suburban Life is Irresistible to a Suspense Writer!
5 Reasons Why… Suburban Life is Irresistible to a Suspense Writer! By Clare Boyd Most writers dream of penning their novels at a wooden desk in a sun-filled room with a view of the sea. That’s not where I long to be. I’m happy to be stuck in my damp shed in suburbia. This is […]
Falling in Love with the Supporting Cast By Valerie Taylor
Falling in Love with the Supporting Cast By Valerie Taylor Do you believe in coincidences? I do. Let me tell you why. Coming up with a unique blog topic these days can be a challenging and head-scratching proposition. Granted, with Google at our fingertips, it shouldn’t be all that difficult for authors. All it takes […]
Passion/Obsession: A Metaphor for Writing?
Passion/Obsession: A Metaphor for Writing? T.M. Dunn I often tell my students, “If you’re not passionate about your story, don’t write it.” This doesn’t mean at 2 AM, on umpteenth revision, you give up. In the case of the late night, early morning, writer’s blues, don’t give up, go to bed. As any Law and […]
Jumping Through Social Media Hoops (and Why I’d Rather Not)
Jumping Through Social Media Hoops (and Why I’d Rather Not) On the day that I’m writing this article, the final copies of my third novel arrived at my front door. Or, more accurately I suppose I should say at my parents’ front door (I live in an apartment building, so to avoid the possibility that […]
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