Category Archives: Writing

I’m Back; Progress on the Sequel

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

Posted in Blogs, Literary Characters, Writing, Writing Novels | Leave a comment

An Interview with Me

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

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

Posted in Blogs, Book Marketing, E-Book, Editing & Proofreading, Marketing, Self-Publishing, Writing, Writing Novels | Leave a comment

Researching for Fiction Writing

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

Posted in Book Reserach, Writing | Leave a comment

Should You Hire a Professional Editor?

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

Posted in Editing & Proofreading, Literary Agents, Self-Publishing, Writing, Writing Novels | Leave a comment

Notes on Self-Editing – Part 2

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

Posted in Editing & Proofreading, Interior Design, Writing | Leave a comment

Notes on Self-Editing

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

Posted in Editing & Proofreading, Writing, Writing Novels | Leave a comment

Developing Character Profiles

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

Posted in Characters, Self-Publishing, Writing | Leave a comment

Naming Your Characters

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

Posted in Characters, Writing | Leave a comment