Research, for a historical author, is the most exciting part of the writing process, with the added benefit of the travel perk. Research is where we find our inspiration, settle on our plots, come up with our characters and, of course, travel to locations where our heroes could have lived out their lives. Historical novels, [CONTINUE READING]
You’ve been staring at the computer screen for several minutes, waiting for inspiration to come to you. But nothing happens. You press both hands to your cheeks and exclaim, “Oh no, I have writer’s block.” Personally, I don’t believe in writer’s block. In addition to writing legal thrillers, I have a very demanding day job [CONTINUE READING]
It’s time once again to dredge up that age-old philosophical debate (or did I just create a brand new debate?) of who came first, the writer or the character? The internet (and libraries, bookstores, my closet, etc.) is teeming with how-to guides for creating life-like characters to inhabit fictional worlds. But if you spend any [CONTINUE READING]
What’s my top tip for writing? It depends on when you ask me and what I’ve been struggling with lately! Today I’m going to skip the most basic one (‘internet turned off and butt glued to chair’) and the always important ‘however much you’ve written, cut out half of it.’ Those are all well and [CONTINUE READING]
Take short story, mate it with a piece of first-person gonzo journalism, then cross-breed their offspring with a Jerry Seinfeld standup routine and you’ll probably wind up with something reasonably close to the humorous essay—one of the best and least-appreciated forms in popular writing. Of the approximately 200 million frustrated, unpublished would-be novelists living in [CONTINUE READING]
Like a lot of people I love to procrastinate. It is a lot of fun to think about a task and talk about a task and even worry about a task but not actually do the task until the eleventh hour. Deadlines not only give me something to complain about but also give me the [CONTINUE READING]
Mar 222011
Chicago, 1944. Liz Stephens has little interest in attending a USO club dance with her friends Betty and Julia. She doesn’t need a flirtation with a lonely serviceman when she’s set to marry her childhood sweetheart. Yet something happens the moment Liz glimpses Morgan McClain. They share only a brief conversation – cut short by [CONTINUE READING]
