Posts Tagged ‘Writing’
PRESUMPTUOUS?
As I touted the Southeastern Writers Association annual workshop (June 16-20 on St. Simons Island, Georgia) to a fellow writer recently, he interrupted me by saying he thought it “presumptuous” to assume that a professional author could “teach” writing to someone. That took me aback, but in way, I suppose he was correct. I’ve listened…
Read MoreI JUST KNEW SOMETHING BAD WAS GOING ON IN THERE
It’s kinda cool when someone remembers specific scenes from the books you’ve written . . . even if that someone is your brother. My brother Rick and I were chatting a few weeks ago about novels and movies, and he brought up a particular scene he remembered from Plague. “That building with no windows,” he…
Read MoreWHY I DIDN’T ADDRESS “COUNTING THE DEAD” IN CASCADIA
CASCADIA isn’t totally a novel. By that I mean it’s not completely fiction. The event the novel is set against, a massive earthquake and huge tsunami in the Pacific Northwest, is something that’s really going to happen. In my previous novels, EYEWALL, SUPERCELL and BLIZZARD, I depicted major weather events that, while certainly possible, are…
Read MoreTHE FIRST ONE-STAR REVIEW OF CASCADIA
Stormy, our five-year-old Shih Tzu, pads into my office and sits next to me where I’m working at my desk. “Hey, Storms, what’s up?” He doesn’t respond, just looks up at me with his big brown eyes the size of shooter marbles. I notice he’s sporting a tie. “What’s with the tie, dude? Haven’t seen…
Read MorePERPETUALLY AROUSED ZOMBIES?
I got an email recently from the VP of my publishing company, Belle Bridge Books, detailing the marketing challenges faced by smaller presses, like Belle Bridge, and relatively unknown authors, like myself. The VP, Deborah Smith (a New York Times best-selling author, BTW), harbors a great deal of wisdom and a laugh-out-loud sense of humor. Her comments…
Read MoreME AND STEVE BERRY
Steve Berry is an international, mega-best selling thriller novelist. According to his website, he’s sold 19 million books in 51 countries. Me? Another 18.9 million copies and I’ll be right there with him. I’ve met Steve several times, but let me make it clear, we aren’t necessarily BFF. If we were to meet again, he…
Read MoreGRABBING THE READER
I preach it all the time in my critique group, so I don’t know why I have such a struggle doing it myself: grabbing the reader in the opening few paragraphs of my book; embedding him or her immediately in the drama. Eventually, I always get things sorted out, but I usually have to get “slapped…
Read MoreSLICING AND DICING MY “BABIES”
Rewriting. It’s not my favorite part of the writing process, but it is integral to it. Movies often depict authors as being finished with their work when they type THE END. Time to celebrate, right? Nope. In the real world of writing, that’s probably only half way home. Any experienced scribe will tell you writing is rewriting. …
Read MoreHow I Almost Blew It With BLIZZARD
You’d think after three novels I’d know the “rules.” (Actually, as NYT best-selling author Steve Berry likes to say about his ten rules of writing, the number one rule is “There are no rules.”) So let’s just call them guidelines. I actually do know the guidelines, but I managed to ignore one of the most…
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