Too often, as a writer, it’s easy to throw in the towel and say: “I can’t write about that, it’s not my experience.” Neither is slaying dragons, living in Victorian England, or surviving a pandemic. It would appear that experience is not necessary for an engaging narrative. In fact, we seem to want to read… Read more »
“I finally finished my ten-book epic fantasy series! Now I’m ready to start editing. How do I do that, exactly?” –The Next J.R.R., G.R.R., or J.K. Woah! Slow down there, turbo. First of all, congratulations on reaching the editing stage! That’s a step that most budding authors don’t get to. But you’re looking at this… Read more »
In a blog post dated April 2013, about a month before his New York Times bestseller The Fifth Wave hit shelves, Rick Yancey listed four reasons not to be a writer. His second was “Failure is guaranteed.” Here’s what he had to say: “You have to come to terms with your own loser-ness. I do this by looking at… Read more »
BookExpo America is an exciting event that brings together industry professionals, book bloggers and reading fanatics to discuss what the next big thing will be in publishing. While it’s a wonderful weekend, it’s not as welcoming to casual readers as some other conventions. Which is why Bookcon was introduced. For a greatly reduced price, book… Read more »
“How do you write so much? I can’t seem to get much more than 20,000 words on my novel so far!” – Devon A. H. If you had to choose between quantity and quality, I’m guessing most of you would choose quality. So, you spend about a year writing, angsting and revising—and that’s all just… Read more »
I think we all have a romantic notion of the author springing from his bed, crying “Eureka!” and scribbling furiously some wonderful new idea that has just been beamed into his head like an alien. I like this idea. I like to exploit this idea. I carry around a Moleksine notebook. Who doesn’t, these days?… Read more »
When you combine 19th century Parisian history, classical music and dancing skeletons, what do you get? Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre, a spooky children’s picture book about how French composer Camille Saint-Saëns became inspired to create the orchestral piece “Danse Macabre,” or “dance of death,” after a visit to an underground cemetery. Published in August 2013, Saint-Saëns’s… Read more »
Over the past few weeks, we’ve established that in order to give your manuscript the best shot at standing out in a crowded marketplace, you need to hire a freelance editor. We’ve also talked about the basic services you can expect your editor to provide. Now let’s talk about how you find your editor. Because… Read more »
“My family just suffered a tragic loss. Some days I can barely get out of bed, let alone convince myself to write something worthwhile.” – Stuck in Sorrow Ruh-roh. Becca’s taking a turn for the serious this week. Just a month ago, I lost my best furry buddy. Couple that with several seriously ill family… Read more »
The end of May, the tenth book in my AGAINST series, AGAINST THE WILD, is being released. This is the first of three books about the rugged Brodie brothers of Alaska. Being plot-oriented, I usually work through the story from start to finish, then figure out where the best place is going to be for… Read more »
