I took a quick trip to South Carolina Friday and Saturday to see my folks and talk to Mama’s book club. On the way back home Saturday morning, I suddenly realized I needed [...]

Okay, y’all know I don’t usually post a video. But this one, if you’re a writer, will put a smile on your face if you have the time (1:58 length) : The video [...]

Today I’d like to welcome Bob Sanchez to the blog. Bob, a retired technical writer, has published two novels, When Pigs Fly and Getting Lucky. His blog is http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com and is the webmaster [...]

My third grade daughter brought a children’s chapter book home from her school library a week ago. The book was about a fifth grader who decides that grades and standardized tests aren’t accurate [...]

My husband’s sister and her husband live in Africa where they work as translators. My sister-in-law speaks French fluently and perfectly accented. Her husband speaks 5 or 6 languages, including Swahili. For years [...]

My upcoming Delicious and Suspicious will be released July 6, 2010, under my pen name Riley Adams. Just in time for the backyard grilling season! Here’s the back cover copy: Welcome to Aunt [...]

I get a lot of emails for different organizations that I either volunteer for or belong to. Sometimes I want to get out my highlighter and mark the information I need. Frequently I’ll [...]

I belong to a couple of Yahoo groups for cozy authors. One subject that’s been hot on the boards lately is the way some authors argue with their readers on (mostly) Amazon. It’s [...]

I have a subplot in my current WIP that wants to take over the world. In the same WIP, I have a small subplot that stays meekly in its place. Subplots are a [...]

Photo by Dana Geary Kit Dunsmore is a contemporary fantasy writer living in northern Colorado. She’s currently working on a novel about a witch who tries to rescue her best friend from a [...]

Today I’d like to welcome Kathy McIntosh to the blog. Kathy is an editor, PR expert, professional speaker, and professed word lover. BRAINSTORMING FOR FICTION WRITERS: Get Drenched in Ideas Whether you have [...]

All day on Monday, I had the feeling that something was wrong. I’d set my writing goal for the day. I had a couple of errands that I needed to do. But I [...]

Potholes aren’t usually a problem here in Matthews, North Carolina. That’s because we’ve been in a drought for years–there wasn’t any moisture on the roads to cause any potholes. Now, of course, we’re [...]

You wouldn’t think those three inches of snow we got Friday would make such a mess of the roads. The brine and the melting, muddy snow was tossed up on my car from [...]

I have a hard time keeping my seventh grade son in books. It’s a nice problem to have. After scouring some book blogs, I came up with four books that had been highly [...]

First of all, I wanted to mention that Cleo’s interesting discussion on genre blending continued far into the comments section yesterday. She made some fascinating points about transitioning into a mainstream author if [...]

A former journalist, Alice Alfonsi is a multi-published author in several genres and a New York Times best-selling media tie-in writer. Under the pen name Cleo Coyle, she pens two nationally bestselling mystery [...]

Today I have the pleasure of having Margot Kinberg guest post on the blog. Margot is a mystery writer (her newest, B-Very Flat has just been released.) But Margot is also a mystery [...]

Literary snobbery has been a topic on a couple of blogs lately. So today, I’m blogging at A Good Blog is Hard to Find about how writers can handle encounters with book snobs. [...]

I was in—as usual—the grocery store on Saturday afternoon. As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted with a big smile by a couple of men at a table. I [...]

I’ve gotten to that point in my manuscript where it’s time to include some secrets. I love secrets in books. They work really well for mysteries—in fact, it’s fun for all of the [...]

I’m one of those writers who doggedly writes each day, no matter what. Frequently? I’m not inspired. I think that’s the dirty little secret of a lot of writers. We may get ideas. [...]

One reason I don’t look back over the previous day’s writing is because I know what I’ll usually see: Blah, blah, blah. When I get an idea or have characters in a conversation, [...]

First of all, thanks to my guest blogger, Charlotte Bowen today! Charlotte blogs at http://www.fictionette.org/, is revising her first novel and writing her second. She’s on Twitter at @acbowen. ****************** Historical Research. Those [...]

Our antagonists sure do like to cause a lot of trouble. They’re working against our main characters at every opportunity, trying to make sure they don’t reach their goals. My antagonists sometimes even [...]

I’m writing this Tuesday morning at the coffeehouse. There’s a lady sitting at the table in front of me who keeps looking at me and smiling like she knows me. I hope she [...]

I frequently have classical music playing in the background at home while the kids are eating or while I’m writing (no pesky lyrics to get me off-track.) My daughter perked up when one [...]

Alan Orloff at A Million Blogging Monkeys had a great post last week dealing with scene pacing. As he mentioned, it’s best to start a scene late in the action and end the [...]