Tag: featured
On Writing Culinary Mysteries
In a culinary mystery, a body will be discovered, an amateur sleuth will be forced to get involved, whoever isn’t murdered will eat and drink, and recipes will be provided in the back of the book. A category in the “cozy mystery” genre, culinary mysteries are often written as part of a series so readers […]
The Internet of Trees – or How Plants Gave Me a Novel
The Internet of Trees – or How Plants Gave Me a Novel By Margaret Ann Spence If you are reading this, you are on the internet. We are connecting. In the short thirty years since the internet was invented, we take it for granted. Such an extraordinary explosion of knowledge has occurred because we can […]
How I learned to write
By Caroline Bishop It’s said that everyone has at least one book in them. That may be true, but that doesn’t mean everyone is able to translate the brilliant idea in their head into half-decent words on a page. And unless you’re particularly prodigious, that novel won’t pour out of you perfectly formed, ready to […]
In Defense of the Sex Scene
In Defense of the Sex Scene Do you have a favorite sex scene? I do. It’s the library scene in the movie Atonement. There’s no nudity. There’s no visible touching of intimate parts. My personal favorite moment involves a foot, but the sex act itself is filmed almost entirely from the neck up. I saw […]
On Inspiration: KateMarie Collins
When I was first contacted by Barbara at Women Writers, I was excited to write this post. Guest blogs, for me, are a blast. A chance to show more than just a link and book cover…readers can sample my work! You get a way to read something original from me without investing any money. Given […]
I Don’t Hate Norma Bates: How Studying Film and Television Can Make You a Better Writer
To be a good writer, you must be an avid reader. You should study other writers’ work. We’ve all heard this advice—and it’s true. But “reading” and “studying” doesn’t pertain only to books. We can examine stories that come to life on screen and teach so much about setting, character development, pacing, and plot. As […]
This Valentine’s Day, Be Glad You Don’t Live In The Times Of Bridgerton…
This Valentine’s Day, be glad you don’t live in the times of Bridgerton… If you ever write a book, you’ll get used to answering silly questions. As a writer of historical fiction, there’s one in particular that gets me every single time. “Would you like to have lived in the nineteenth century?” people ask me, […]
Craving Solitude to Write? Try These 8 Pandemic Writing Strategies
When the car needed service several months ago, I put on a coat and mask and went to the dealership. It wasn’t until I was waiting in the blessedly quiet customer cafe that I realized how much I’d been craving solitude. Would they notice, I wondered, if I sat here every week? I’ve been a […]
Much More Than a Group Blog
I’ve been part of a group blog for nearly nine years. The six Wicked Authors were all starting our careers as mystery writers when we started the blog in 2013. Today we have eighty published books among us. But our blog is so much more than a five-days-a-week web presence. Each of us would tell […]
When Sales Don’t Matter—Much
Jumping the publishing shark from contemporary romance to a book of essays wasn’t anything I’d ever thought of doing. At least, not seriously. I’ve written the column, “Window Over the Sink,” sporadically since 1990. The columns aren’t particularly neat—they’re crooked, jagged pieces of my heart. I write about my life, my family, my friends, and […]
Recent Comments