Tag: featured
Writing About My Special Needs Daughter
One of my dearest friends recently told me, “Lindsey is the most difficult person with special needs I’ve ever encountered.” Folks might think such a statement would be disconcerting. After all, I am Lindsey’s mother. I’ve also written a book about our complicated relationship. However, instead of wounding my spirit, her words left me feeling […]
My First Writers’ Workshop
Frankly, I was scared to go. School was decades behind me and I had a successful career as a magazine editor. Why put myself out there with a work of fiction I’d been fussing over for years? On the other hand, I had been fussing over that story for years on my own with no […]
What Happens When An Unreliable Character Pops Into Your Head?
The short answer: you write his story. Here’s what happened to me. Last summer I was working on the first book in what would be a women’s fiction series at the request of my agent. You see, with the exception of one of my previous novels, my books were considered women’s fiction, even though some […]
Hook Them with Hope
As writers, we’ve all heard that to keep a reader turning pages, we should hook them from the start. That much is true, but something else I’ve learned is that once you have their interest, you can also keep them hooked by giving them hope. Some of the common themes throughout my books are difficult […]
Ten Things I Learned as a New Author
While long-published authors put my meager knowledge to shame, there are some important lessons I learned as a new author. Needless to say, getting attention for a novel with all the competition in the publishing world is a tough assignment. Here are the most important things I learned during the process of publishing first novel. […]
Dialogue – It’s Not A Conversation
Dialogue charts a middle path between authenticity and art in writing. It reveals personality, and in this way it is closely linked to character. It advances the story, and in this way it is closely linked with plot. It adds a layer of verisimilitude, and in this way it is closely linked with setting. Excellent […]
On Writing: Barbara Sissel
My children were born in a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, but their first home was a state-issued, singlewide trailer on prison grounds some 70 miles east of Lexington in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. I was expecting my first son when I moved there with my then husband who had been promoted from prison […]
How To Pitch A Series
A few weeks ago, I announced the Gamer Girl series, three books coming out from Kensington’s Lyrical Press starting in 2019. Since this is my second series, many people have asked me how to get an editor to buy multiple books rather than just one. Initially, if you do not know the editor and have […]
On Writing a Series – Practical Hints and Tips
Everybody loves a series, especially readers – and publishers! – in the crime genre. I’m currently working on the fourth novel in my Lotte Meerman series and for those of you working on a series yourselves, I would like to share some practical tips from my personal experience. Tip 1: Readers will read your books […]
Forty-Two Year Old Women Don’t Have Adventures
Forty-two year old women don’t have adventures. She’d just be more appealing if she were thinner, taller and younger. We’ll buy it if you made her 25 and sexier. Female protagonists should NOT be flawed.. Why does she eat so much? And that wine—seriously? Can’t you… No I can’t and no I didn’t. Those were […]
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