Killing your Characters

Sep 20, 2014 | My Publications, Writing

I was reading the other day a fascinating post, Killing the Mary-Sue, by Chiyome. As I am currently debating killing a character or two in my WIP, the fourth book of my epic fantasy series Pearseus, her musings made me wonder about the role death plays in our works....

The Worst Way to Begin a Novel

Sep 6, 2014 | Writing

“The worst way to begin a novel: advice from literary agents”. That’s the title of a wonderful blog post by the Write Life. Literary agents are like ‘skilled readers’ who have gone through hundreds of novels, acquiring experience; they are also...

J. R. R. Tolkien’s 10 Tips For Writers

Aug 31, 2014 | Publishing, Writing

Essay Mama is an unusual site, providing students with essays. Even more unusual is the fact that they produced a lovely infographic on Tolkien, with some tips they gleamed from his correspondence. Enjoy! Pearseus: Rise of the Prince will be on sale throughout...

My 4 Golden Rules of Writing

Aug 26, 2014 | Writing

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now. The main reason is that I keep coming across several writing rules that make little sense to me. Then, I came across a gem of a post by Constance Hale, “When Shakespeare Committed Word Crimes” on...

Writing Tips by J.K. Rowling

Jul 31, 2014 | Writing

I think that most writers admire J.K. Rowling.  We’ve heard how she spent hours writing her books in an Edinburgh café (I vote for Nicholson’s, but Edinburgh café owners seem entangled in a heated debate regarding which one she actually preferred, and I...

Finding your Voice: the Whole Works

Jun 20, 2014 | Writing

I was reading a lovely post on Points of View by my friend Nat Russo and it occurred to me how easy it is to tear apart a book – and writing in general – in our effort to improve our craft. Since deciding to become an author, I’ve studied countless...

Ten More Forgotten Words

Jun 18, 2014 | Writing

Readers of my Crapulence and Forgotten English: the Words we Ought to Bring Back post will have realized that I like discovering obsolete words.  Continuing my search for more words that should come back into our everyday life, I discovered ten great ones on Victims...

4 More Self-publishing tips

Jun 8, 2014 | Marketing, Publishing, Writing

Continuing this weekend’s special , I’m concluding yesterday’s post on 4 Simple Self-Publishing Tips with 4 More Self-publishing tips! The inspiration for this second installment came to me while reading Kristen Lamb’s blog and her blog post 5...