Category: On Writing
Who Needs a Therapist When You Can Write it all Away?
It’s an incredible process, writing. There you are typing away and someone, seemingly out of nowhere, pops up on the page. A name, a character… becoming more realised with every tap of your finger. As a writer, you are never quite sure what or who is going to appear, a distant memory, a story someone […]
Slightly South of Simple: Interview with Kristy Woodson Harvey
Once again, Kristy Woodson Harvey immerses us both into the South and into the lives of her characters. In Slightly South of Simple, we find ourselves rooting for Ansley and her daughters as they grapple with letting love and each other into their lives. Focusing on Ansley in addition to her daughters takes Slightly South […]
The Evolution of A Writer
The first time I ever heard the words anchor out I was sitting at the old Café Trieste in Sausalito, probably writing “morning pages”, as directed by Julia Cameron. Stormy days on the bay when boats tossed and turned, masts jangled in the wind singing out their storm songs, brought me to the warmly lit […]
Q&A with Kate Brandes
Kate Brandes is the debut author of THE PROMISE OF PIERSON ORCHARD (Wyatt-MacKenzie, 2017) and a member of and contributor to WWWB. There is no better feeling than when one of our own makes it. We are so proud of and happy for you, Kate! About her – “I grew up all over the east […]
So You Want to Be a Detective
We writers are many things. Sometimes, our subjects make us into even more. When writing and promoting The Magician’s Lie, which features a stage magician as its main character, I did a lot of thinking about the similarities between illusionists and novelists. And to write my new book Girl in Disguise, inspired by the life […]
Please Don’t Give Up
This is for all the struggling writers out there who are considering giving up. Please don’t. What if Kathryn Stockett had given up? Or J.K. Rowling? Sure, they’re big names so I’ll throw in other big names, friends and colleagues: Camille de Maio, Julie Buxbaum, Emily Carpenter, and Jamie Brenner to name a few. The […]
Five Books, Five Destinations: A Mystery Tour
“Reading a good book is like taking a journey.” * I write mysteries, not travel books. So my journeys usually take me to the exotic locale of Buffalo, New York. If this sounds incongruous, let me explain. The best stories are all rooted somewhere. And at times, the setting itself is like a main character […]
Sweet Instead of Spicy: Writing Sweet Romance in a Fifty Shades Kind of World
Pounding hearts and sweaty body parts. Looks of lust and feverish kisses. Sexy words and entwined limbs. Foreplay leading to racy scenes, blush-inducing positions, and unbridled passion. These are the things romance novels are made of. Or are they? As a sweet romance writer living in a writing world where Fifty Shades of Grey […]
Writing, Redemption, and Pop Music
My “difficult second novel,” as yet unpublished, bears the rather ambitious title The History of the World in Pop Music. It’s not actually a history of the world in pop music, it’s the story of a girl growing up in an Irish Catholic family in Liverpool in the 1970s who discovers that the stepfather she […]
In Support of New-Adult Fiction
In the world of writing, we all know that we should not write to trends, and we all know the reasons why that doesn’t work. Nevertheless, we all hope that when our work-in-progress someday emerges into the world, it will fit right in with the current mega-bestsellers. That happened to me with new-adult fiction. 2012 […]
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