Category Archives: Writing

I’m Back; Progress on the Sequel

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Marty Martins

Apologies for the long hiatus from blogging.  I’ve been tied up house-hunting, house buying, packing, moving, unpacking, and all the related work of getting set up in a new home.  I’ll do my best to be a more faithful blogger … Continue reading →

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An Interview with Me

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Marty Martins

Eva Coppersmith interviewed me for her blog over at Eva’s Sanctuary.  She also reviewed The Blizzard and, I’m happy to report, gave it her highest rating.  So, if you want to learn more about me or read her opinion of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Promotion & Publicity, Book Reviews, Characters, Literary Characters, Promotion & Publicity, Writing, Writing Novels | Leave a comment

Why Quality Is ALL That Matters

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Marty Martins

Author Andy Hollman gave me permission to reprint this important blog entry that any writer worth the name should keep in mind.  The quality of your finished work is more important than whatever you decide to charge for it (even … Continue reading →

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Researching for Fiction Writing

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Marty Martins

A young writer in a Linkedin writers group to which I belong posted a question asking other members about the need for research when writing ficton.  I posted the following contribution.  I could have given many other examples, but this, … Continue reading →

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Should You Hire a Professional Editor?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Marty Martins

In a previous post, I wrote about the necessity of having your work professionally edited.  Of course, if your book has been picked up by a major publishing house, you likely will have an editor assigned to your book.  (Although … Continue reading →

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Notes on Self-Editing – Part 2

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Marty Martins

Continuing on with the notes I took while reading Evan Marshall’s book, Novel Writing, and, as before, with my comments in bold italics. Simplicity and Redundancy – Delete redundancies.  While we’re going after redundancies, can “a point in time” be banned from … Continue reading →

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Notes on Self-Editing

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Marty Martins

A while back, well before I started on The Blizzard and probably when I was starting on my Hawaiian novel, I read a book titled Novel Writing by Evan Marshall.  Self-help books targeted for the writing industry can be a … Continue reading →

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Developing Character Profiles

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Marty Martins

Any novel you write is likely to have multiple characters.  Most will have a name, but what do they look like?  It saves a lot of trouble and time once you’re writing if you plan the descriptions in advance.  Some … Continue reading →

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Naming Your Characters

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Marty Martins

I was talking to a budding author a few weeks ago and she mentioned the trouble she was having coming up with names for the characters in the mystery she’s writing. Every author should have a “Good Ideas” folder.  Whenever … Continue reading →

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