I’m thirty thousand words into my new Kate Hamilton book and feeling generally out of sorts because I should be in England right now….I feel like whining.
Read More
I am so excited to introduce my friend and fellow mystery-writer Laura Jensen Walker, whose first cozy Murder Most Sweet was officially launched on September ninth!
Read More
Should writers incorporate real-world events into the fictional world of their novels? The question isn’t how much your characters actually know about these events but rather why the events matter to them. That takes perspective.
Read More
I was about thirteen, an impressionable age, when among the stacks in my small hometown library, I stumbled upon the novels of P. G. Wodehouse (pronounced “Woodhouse,” by the way). For the first time in my life I realized that a story could be brilliant, not only for what was said but also for how it was said.
Read More
Voice isn’t content; it’s the way that content is translated onto the page. Voice is easy to recognize in music. Take the same song lyrics sung, for example, by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton, and Little Richard. You’d never mistake one for the other. In the same way, you’d never confuse Charles Dickens with J. R. R. Tolkien or Hawthorne with Louise Penny. Your voice as an author is yours alone. Developing your authorial voice takes time.
Read More
“Surely, moving to Columbus is all Gerald and Annette Reed need to start a new life and escape their demons…”
Mercedes King is the author of “An Agreeable Wife For A Suitable Husband,” one of the stories in the newly published Columbus Noir anthology by Akashic Books. Columbus Noir was the 101st installment in the series—and the first for Ohio.
We all know there are different paths in publishing. Some writers love not only the actual writing but also the full production of a book, from formatting the pages, producing cover art, and developing publicity materials to setting pub dates and generally seeing things through from plotting to launch and beyond. Eileen Curley Hammond is such a person.
Read More
The earth is a treasure of biodiversity. Each living thing, each culture, each individual human being, has its place in the grand scheme of things—a gift to be nurtured, protected, and celebrated.
Read More
One of my fantasies is dreaming up a complete plot and typing it into my computer, full-blown like the birth of Venus. Maybe that happens for some writers. For me, the reality looks nothing like that.
Read More
“I hate writing. I love having written.” –Dorothy Parker
One aspect of writing is pure joy for me, though–romancing the words.
