Category: On Writing
Discovering Fiction Readers Preferences, Habits and Attitudes ~~ by M.K. Tod
Readers and writers – a symbiotic relationship. Ideas spark writers to create stories and build worlds and characters for readers’ consumption. Readers add imagination and thought to interpret those stories, deriving meaning and enjoyment in the process. A story is incomplete without both reader and writer. What then do readers want? What constitutes a compelling […]
According to a Source author Abby Stern Gives Us A VIP Tour of the Red Carpet
I’ve been drawn to creative writing since early childhood. When a creative writing class was an option as an elective in middle school, I knew it would be my elective. I was on the staff of my school’s literary magazine throughout high school and then switched my focus to screenplays. I’d never set out to […]
One Life Changing Invitation
With one invitation, my life was changed in the most miraculous of ways. I can barely remember my life before Samantha Stroh Bailey, Josie Brown, Eileen Goudge, Francine LaSala, Jen Tucker, and Julie Valerie became a part of it. We were brought together as a group in May, 2013 during the annual Book Expo America […]
Rape Is A 4-Letter Word
Entangled Moon, my debut corporate suspense thriller novel, opens with a graphic rape and murder scene. Why? Why would a woman subject herself to writing such a thing? Why would she choose such a controversial subject for her debut? Worse, I wrote a second rape scene. It was the hardest thing I have ever done, […]
When One Door Closes…
I’ve always been a fan of possibility. I’m with Emily Dickinson on this (no relation!): ‘I dwell in possibility’ is one of my favourite quotes. In my own life I’ve found that it often arrives when you least expect it, when your attention is summoned elsewhere. In fact, I owe my career as a bestselling […]
On Being Read: Shelf Life
SHELF LIFE Back in the days when I thought it would be a cinch to command a print run of, say, thirty thousand, I used to dream of being read, dozens of readers dawdling over every inch, dallying with each irresistible insight. I thought of our intercourse as a fertile two-way street, spurring us all […]
Waiting for Inspiration
People who are interested in writing sometimes ask: how do you get inspiration? Do you have to sit and wait? No — I give the standard answer: you just sit at your desk or computer and don’t move until you’ve written a thousand words, or whatever you set out to do. As William Faulkner once […]
Growing Through Grief: A Story for Father’s Day
Growing Through Grief: A Story for Father’s Day by Debbie Augenthaler, Author of You Are Not Alone: A Heartfelt Guide for Grief, Healing, and Hope My father was a Vietnam veteran who suffered from PTSD. A part of me always grieves for him, for how he suffered and how his illness affected our family. And a […]
Read. Write. Reflect.
Our family recently experienced a life-changing medical emergency. As the doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff worked endlessly to save my husband’s life, I was, as a caregiver, on the sidelines. Feelings of helplessness, grief, sadness, and frustration found a home in my heart. During the time of his hospitalization and now, during post-op care, […]
A Writer’s Essentials: A Writing Friend
Over lunch with three writers, one said, “Don’t you love writing prompts, like ‘the first time you got drunk.’” We were off and running, telling the story of the chocolate martinis, or being carried out of a Mexican bar at 18 after two shots of tequila. I leapt on the idea, “This would be a […]
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