Blog Post Advice for New Authors 500
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Advice for New Authors by Karen S. Wiesner

First, I don’t believe there are absolutes in writing. There are so many writing trends, no-no’s, and must-do’s. I admit I find most of them silly. The only rules are the ones you enforce yourself. Don’t let anyone else tell you differently. Here are seven pieces of advice for becoming a professional author:   1) Do your homework in learning to successfully navigate the extremely treacherous waters of trying to book writing and publishing. Don’t rely on anyone else to…
Article Varieties of Vampires 500
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Varieties of Vampires by Margaret L. Carter

Psychoanalyst Ernest Jones, in his 1951 classic nonfiction book On the Nightmare, labels the vampire the most "overdetermined" of monsters in terms of its psychological roots--and, we might add, in terms of its richly varied folkloric sources. As Professor Van Helsing says in Dracula, almost every society throughout the world has legends of some kind of vampire-like creature. You can read about many of them in J. Gordon Melton's encyclopedic reference work The Vampire Book (Third Edition published in 2011).…
Blog Post Avoid a Sagging Middle 500
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Avoid a Sagging Middle by Dee Lloyd

No middle should sag. The dragging, sagging pace of the middle of a romance is every bit as unattractive as the lax muscles of a person's physical midsection. No matter how enthralling your opening chapters are, you will lose your grip on the reader's attention if nothing significant happens or if the pace falters midway in your story. The last thing you want is the reader to think, "She already told me that!" Even if your hero is irresistible and…
Blog Post Where do we find our heroes? 500
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Where do we find our heroes? by Deborah Nolan

WHERE DO WE FIND OUR HEROES? By Deborah Nolan   With Valentine's Day on the horizon I thought it would be a good time to talk about what makes a romantic hero. The heroes in my romances are inspired by real people.  Gerard Fitzpatrick, know by all as Fitz, the hero in "Conflict of Interest", was based on a rotary member in my town. I'd heard through the grapevine that he was a single father raising his two young sons…
Blog Post A Case for Worst Boys 500
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A Case for Worst Boys By Klara Raškaj

In the romance genre, we often look for books with a particular trope (i.e. reoccurring theme). The infamous "bad boy" most likely comes to mind. Yes, readers tend to have a strange fascination with these kinds of love interests. However, nobody has really talked about the fact that many readers have very different ideas regarding what makes for a good literary bad boy. Being a personal bad boy fan myself, I was shocked to find out one day that my…
Blog Post Confessions of a Romance Writer and Reader 500
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Confessions of a Romance Writer and Reader by Deborah Nolan

CONFESSIONS OF A ROMANCE WRITER and READER By Deborah Nolan   I am and have always been an avid reader.  As long as I have a book or preferably a stack of books and a loaded kindle, I'm good to go. I read mysteries, suspense, woman's fiction and literary. I don't read fantasy, except for Harry Potter, and I've never been a fan of science fiction or horror. But my favorite genre is romance.   I also write romance.  I…
Blog Post How I Became an Author of Erotica 500
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How I Became an Author of Erotica by Simone Leigh

So...people ask, how did you end up making your living as an Author of Erotica? And d'you know...it was accidental. Not becoming a writer, you understand. That was anything but accidental. I knew by the time I was eight, that one day I would earn my crust by writing. But specifically, an author of Erotica? I never saw that coming.   It's a Writer's Life... In fact, I was no kind of writer in any professional sense until a couple…
Blog Post Inspirational Romance: An Article for Readers 500
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Inspirational Romance: An Article for Readers by Regina Andrews

Inspirational Romance An Article For Readers: Step into the World of Inspirational Romance Novels By Regina Andrews   Step into the world of Inspirational Romance novels and take a voyage through the entire spectrum of human emotions. Get ready to be uplifted! Get ready to be devastated! Get ready to think that all is lost, only to have events turn so that your whole outlook is renewed, restored, and refreshed. The world of Inspirational Romance novels takes the love story…
Blog Post What is a "cozy" Mystery? 500
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What is a “cozy” Mystery? By Christine DeSmet

The "cozy" mystery features an amateur sleuth who is usually a woman. The sleuth is likeable, smart and earnest, and they go about life with a good sense of humor. She's rarely a detective or police officer, but she knows somebody who is. The mystery is set in a small town or village, though a neighborhood in a big city or a vacation spot somewhere in the world may also be a location. Readers often buy cozy mysteries to vicariously…
Blog Post Literary Style Courts Thrillers 500
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Literary Style Courts Thrillers by Linda Kasten

Upon browsing agents' wish lists the other day, I was puzzled when I saw the request for "literary thrillers". An interesting term, I thought. Truly contradictory. Right? From everything I know about literary fiction and thrillers, I failed to reconcile this term as a legitimate genre. Is this a new "buzzword", a peculiar crossing of two opposite literary forms? And if so, how does that work? To see how the two might mix, I examined the elements found in both…
Blog Post How to Write Police Mystery Thrillers: Getting it Right! 500
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How to Write Police Mystery Thrillers: Getting it Right! By John Schembra

Are you writing police mysteries thrillers? Want to get it right? I do, too, though I may have an advantage, having been a police officer for 30 years. Although the home setting for my books is the San Francisco PD, sometimes protagonists must seek the help of other police or federal agencies. This presents a problem, as not all law enforcement agencies conduct investigations the same way. Each agency has their own set of procedures and though general investigative protocols…
Blog Post What are "Mystery", "Thriller" and "Suspense" Genres? 500
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What are “Mystery”, “Thriller” and “Suspense” Genres? by Writers Exchange E-Publishing

Mystery   The essence of a mystery lies in the intellectual exercise of piecing together clues. The genre hinges on the 'whodunit' question, engaging the reader in a cerebral pursuit to solve the puzzle before the protagonist does--or at the climactic reveal. Mysteries often begin with a crime that seems initially inexplicable, requiring methodical deduction and savvy intuition to resolve. Historically, the genre has roots in works like Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", which is often…
Blurb Writing Series, Part 2: Crafting Blurbs Overview by Karen Wiesner
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Blurb Writing Series, Part 2: Crafting Blurbs Overview by Karen Wiesner

Crafting Blurbs Overview by Karen Wiesner   Back Cover Blurbs A back cover blurb can be anywhere from one to four paragraphs. If the whole package is short and punchy, as we've said, it's practically guaranteed to be intriguingly memorable. But, while shorter is generally better these days, that's not always the case. A too-short blurb may be less than dazzling. Instead of being memorable, it can lack details to capture true interest in readers. Another thing to note is…
Blog Post Blurb Writing Series, Part 1: Judge a Book by its Back Cover Blurb 500
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Blurb Writing Series, Part 1: Judge a Book by its Back Cover Blurb by Karen Wiesner

Fact 1: Readers judge books by their back cover blurbs just as they might a cover.   Fact 2: Authors and publishers want them to! To have a reader judge a book by its back cover blurb is our goal.   The only problem with this is that we want readers to judge our books to be worthy of taking the risk of buying and reading it, not the opposite. For that very reason, an *effectively good* back cover blurb…
Blog Post Avoid Rejection... An Editor's Checklist 500
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Avoid Rejection… An Editor’s Checklist by Dee Lloyd

During my six years as Acquisitions Editor for the now-defunct LTDBooks I must have read several thousand submissions. Many of the manuscripts I reluctantly had to reject had much to offer. If the authors had looked carefully at the following aspects of their writing, my response might have been positive. Here are the topics of some of my pet peeves. THE CHECK LIST: Spelling and grammar. There is no more obvious fault to an editor than poor grammar and spelling.…
Blog Post The Stuff Series are Made of 500
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The Stuff Series are Made of by Karen Wiesner

The Stuff Series Are Made Of By Karen S. Wiesner   "The disease of writing is dangerous and contagious," Abelard famously said to Heloise. So, too, can a book series become a relentless obsession: It's why readers follow series devotedly to the last, why writers write them for years on end, and why publishers contract them in spades. In our trend-driven world, series are hotter than ever. But if writing a novel can seem overwhelming, the idea of creating a whole…
Blog Post Scene business, style, and dialogue 500
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Scene business, style, and dialogue by Will Greenway

Scene business, style, and dialogue By Will Greenway Viewpoint is one the most important aspects of writing. It is the eye through which readers see your work. Creating a strong viewpoint "presence" within your story relies on several related narrative techniques. One of the most important is the handling of character interactions and specifically dialogue. Related to dialogue, one of the most common problems in beginning writing is the "talking head" syndrome. Essentially, characters in a scene begin talking, and…
Blog Post World Building, Not Just for Genre Writers 500
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World Building, Not Just for Genre Writers by Will Greenway

Writing: World Building, not just for genre writers By Will Greenway Overview When we see the term "world building", many writers tend to associate this concept with genre fiction, specifically science fiction, fantasy, and often horror as well.  However, building a world is something that all fiction writers must do. Simply because your world is closer to the "real world" in terms of conventions does not mean that there isn't still work to be done. When we take the idea…
Blog Post Writing: Dynamic Beginnings (2 of 2) 500
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Writing: Dynamic Beginnings (2 of 2) by Will Greenway

Dynamic Beginnings (2 of 2) By Will Greenway If you read the material on Dynamic Beginnings and the 8 rules for starting a novel or short story, this article contains additional "starter" tips and some concrete examples for launching stories. One mechanism that is good for teaching writing self-discipline and makes for an evocative story opening is the six-line opener paragraph. The goal of the opener paragraph is to hook the reader and do most of the things talked about…
Blog Post How To Write Dynamic Beginnings (1 of 2) 500
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How To Write Dynamic Beginnings (1 of 2) by Will Greenway

Dynamic Beginnings (1 of 2) By Will Greenway The opening of your novel or short story is crucial. It must be well written, catchy, and evocative. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, your opening doesn't move the story forward in the proper manner. This may not be a shortcoming in your writing ability, but a reflection of an improperly framed narrative. Many people think of their stories as written in stone. In their minds, the narrative doesn't exist outside…