According to Betty Smith in Joy in the Morning, dialogue in literature serves three functions. It should and Good dialogue has two of these elements, she says. Great dialogue has all three. I’m happy if my dialogue hits any two of those notes but most of the time most of us will hit one and…
This is the cover art (and pre-order links) for the next Kate Shugak novel. I’ll be publishing teeny, tiny excerpts from it in the next four newsletters so you should definitely sign up for it here. This, aspiring authors, is what we in the biz call “promotion.” I wrote about it before here, and I’ll…
People often ask if I’m afraid I’ll run out of ideas. No, that’s not what I fear. My CPA, who I’ve been with since before I sold my first book, including those seven–or was it eight? possibly nine–years I had no earned income at all, retired last year. We’ll pass over the massive trauma this…
Change, growing from within and forced from without, is the mainspring of character development.—Rita Mae Brown Anticipation is the sweet pain to know whatever’s next–a must for every real writer.—Richard Ford If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you’ll abort it if you…
Scriptorus interruptus. So, my agent put me in touch with an editor in the UK, one Jane Johnson, who is an author in her own right. Jane very kindly offered to read what I had written so far of Silk and Song, and cast her pearls of wisdom before this humble writing swine. (That would…
[The last of my four June blogs for 49 Writers, No Moose.] I love good science fiction with a consuming passion. I loved Star Trek. TNG, I mean, not TOS. Kirk blows, Picard rocks, game over. I didn’t hate DS9 after the war with the Dominion started, Voyager worked after Seven came on board, and…
The third of my guest blogs on 49 Writers, No Moose in June — I’m writing an historical novel set in the 14th century, and for a long time I obsessed over how to avoid anachronism, particularly in dialogue. [Example: Marco Polo’s granddaughter, Johanna, going to the stables to discover BFF Jaufre fighting off the…
Second of the guest blogs I wrote for 49 Writers, No Moose in June. — The absolute best part of a writer’s life is the research. I’ve written two thrillers, Blindfold Game and Prepared for Rage. For both novels I went on patrol with the US Coast Guard, first on Alex Haley for 16 days…
Reprinted from last month’s guest blog on 49 Writers, No Moose. I was invited to write anything I wanted, about writing or not, so I did. I’ll be posting them here for the next four Fridays. — For years I tried to get an agent because “everybody” told me that the way the publishing game…
Second of the Minotaur Moments in Crime blogs, published a month ago. —– Excuse me, according to no less an authority than the bellhop at the Vintage Hotel in Portland, Oregon, whose acquaintance I made in the elevator during my first book tour, if you are published, you’re not a writer, you’re an author. Okay.…