Category: How To and Tips
What Makes a Book “Unputdownable”?
WHAT MAKES A BOOK “UNPUTDOWNABLE?” These days, most people are addicted to their devices. I confess, I’m one of them. But I also love to read and have an ever-growing stack of books on my TBR table. So, what keeps me reading instead of checking my phone to see what new rabbit hole there is […]
The Urgency of the Story
The Urgency of the Story Before there were podcasts, there were call-in radio shows, and listeners would often identify themselves as “long-time listener, first-time caller.” Similarly, I’m a long-time writer, first-time author, and it really has been a long time! I began a youthful writing practice when my parents gave me a blue “journal” (actually, […]
Why Do Female Protagonists Have to be Likable?
Why Do Female Protagonists Have to be Likable? Karina Cortés, the protagonist of my debut novel, ONE TOUGH COOKIE, has been called unlikable by many who’ve read the book. This was something I was aware of as I wrote, something I wanted her to be. Through all the rewrites, I kept her core personality intact, […]
Are We There Yet? By Thelma Adams
Are We There Yet? By Thelma Adams I have a day job and a night job and sometimes they intertwine. My day job is as a film critic and entertainment journalist; you know what I do “at night.” Write novels. Last month I interviewed X-Files superstar David Duchovny, 62, about Bucky F**king Dent, the film […]
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 […]
Recent Comments