Blog | Kristine Kathryn Rusch Free Fiction Monday: Snapshots Cleavon saw his first murder victim at his friend Emmett Till’s funeral. Cleavon fled Chicago to raise his family, but the violence followed him. Now, he worries that his grandson Ty will die as horribly as Emmett, and for no good reason. Part historical fiction, part science fiction, “Snapshots” deftly melds despair and hope into a cautionary tale about a deadly problem. “Snapshots” by Hugo Award-winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch is free on this website for one week only. Kristine Kathryn Rusch Let the people see. —Mamie R. quoted in “Mother receives the body of her slain son,” The Atlanta Daily World, September 7, 1955 The church was hot. Mama didn’t want him sayin “ain’t,” but he could think it, at least today. Mama was draggin him here, not Papa, not his older brother Roy. Roy ain’t been home since. Cleavon never knowed anybody who been on the news, and Emmett’d been on the news for days now. Cleavon didn’t talk to him much, couldn’t call him a friend.
Novelr Russell Blake Simple Way to Create a Mood for Your Story In today’s installation of Think Like a Writer, we’ll look at creating a certain mood for your story, novel, or picture book. Writers know that readers want a certain experience and part of that is creating emotion or feeling. In other words, we need to create a setting that has a certain mood. How to do that? But this time, you want to select details that support your mood. If you want a happy beach, you choose different details; soft wind ruffles your hair, sunglasses slide down the sweat on your nose, the smell of sunscreen brings back memories of that time on the beach in Jamaica, the mojita tastes perfectly minty, and the sea is a glassy swell. Writers notice sensory details.
Writing Tips Sometimes you’re not in the mood to write, but you know that you should. Maybe you’ve set a goal and hope to reach it, or you’re on a deadline. Here are a few strategies that you can use to get started. KamiMMcArthur - 11/3/2014 Every so often, I will be writing along on a tale (often with a new novel), and suddenly find myself “stuck.” KamiMMcArthur - 10/30/2014 Whenever you express an idea, you can look at the poetry of your language, your use of diction, your originality, and compare it to other samples of the same idea. KamiMMcArthur - 10/29/2014 Many times as an editor, I will look at a scene and ask myself: “Does this scene belong? KamiMMcArthur - 10/24/2014 In your rewrites, take the opportunity to add as many virtues to your work as possible. KamiMMcArthur - 10/22/2014 National Novel Writing Month starts the first of November, and a couple of times in the past week I’ve had people ask, “How can I make the most of nanowrimo?” KamiMMcArthur - 10/17/2014 KamiMMcArthur - 10/15/2014
We Like to Write - Social Networking for Writers & Bloggers Dean Wesley Smith The Write Practice | Practical Inspiration Blog • Ryan Casey Sunlight: New Post-Apocalyptic Suspense Now Available by Ryan Casey | Oct 30, 2014 | Announcements, My Books Hi everyone, Delighted to announce that Sunlight, my new post-apocalyptic suspense thriller, is now available to buy at Amazon, Nook, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play. The links are right here: Amazon Kindle – Barnes & Noble Nook –... Sunlight: Now Available to Pre-Order by Ryan Casey | Oct 23, 2014 | Announcements, My Books Hi everyone, Just a heads up that Sunlight, a new post-apocalyptic suspense book I have coming out on October 30, is now available to pre-order at Amazon, Kobo and iBooks. A Few Books Now Out of Kindle Exclusivity by Ryan Casey | Oct 20, 2014 | Announcements, My Books Hi everyone, Just wanted to give you non-Kindle ebook readers (all four of you) a heads up that my three month Amazon exclusivity contract on a few of my books has expired, and therefore they are all now available once more on the other big retailers. When Sales Slump…
Between the Lines- The Official Blog of the Books & Such Literary Team : Books & Such Literary Management Blogger: Rachel Kent As we celebrate and remember what Jesus did for us today and throughout the weekend, I find myself looking forward to singing my favorite songs of Good Friday and Easter. Lyrics are an extremely powerful version of writing. Like poetry, they can touch us differently at different times in our lives and the meaning we get from a song is so personal. During the early part of our dating relationship, my husband and I would send song lyrics back and forth and discuss what they meant to each of us. My favorite Good Friday song that we’ll sing tonight during the Tenebrae service is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross by Isaac Watts (1707). My favorite Easter morning song is Christ the Lord is Risen Today (Charles Wesley, 1739). Have you ever written song lyrics or poetry? What are your favorite Holy Week songs? By Rachel Kent on Apr 18, 2014 in Writing Craft | 16 Comments Blogger: Mary Keeley The word “Maundy” is derived from … Read More... Blogger: Rachelle Gardner Read More...
Write on the River | Factual Fiction by Bob Mayer Blog | Adian Editing | Expert Novel Content and Copy Editing Services In Gregg Hurwitz’s critically acclaimed suspense thriller TRUST NO ONE, the action starts in the very first scene, and doesn’t let up until the end of the book, without sacrificing character development or top-notch writing. If you’re looking for clues as to why your readers’ attention wanes halfway through your novel or critics complain that your scenes drag on, this is the post for you. NOTE: I’ll do my best not to give away the ending of TRUST NO ONE during this post; if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. (1) Start with a bang. Generally speaking, fiction of any kind – from literary to romance to your garden-variety picture book – requires a tantalizing hook to get readers turning pages. Thrillers have to deliver in spades on this count; that’s the whole point of the genre. I snapped awake at 2:18 A.M., the bloodshot numerals staring at me from the nightstand. (2) Find a compelling way to tell your backstory. I thought about what my stepfather would do.
Blog | Beyond Paper Editing | Write your best book by Carla Douglas (@CarlaJDouglas) Image by DieselDemon For 12 years, we’ve been successfully writing educational resources and publishing them with an independent press. Here’s a bit of background. Corina was certain that something was wrong with the test—how questions were worded, how students interpreted instructions. We wrote and revised several drafts in MS Word, and through some digging, Corina found a guy who offered her a password protected copy of his very helpful formatting guide, From Word to Print. Then we needed a publisher. We also shopped our book to a major Canadian educational publisher who 1) wanted exclusivity for 60 days, 2) said that if accepted, the book would be published in 12-18 months, and 3) told us that author royalties were 6 percent. We were pretty sure we could do better, and on the Friday afternoon before the Labour Day weekend, I searched once more, and sent a query off to a little educational press I’d never heard of. She was a perfect fit.