Author: Keenan Powell

Keenan Powell is the Agatha, Lefty, and Silver Falchion nominated author of the Maeve Malloy Mystery series. While still in high school, she was one of the illustrators of the original Dungeons and Dragons. Art seemed an impractical pursuit – not an heiress, wouldn’t marry well, hated teaching – so she went to law school instead. An Air Force brat, she was ready for a new place to go upon graduation so the day after commencement, she moved to Alaska where she continues to practice law. Her career has spanned the gamut from criminal defense, family law, dog law, personal injury, workers compensation, and appeals. In addition to writing the Maeve Malloy series, she has published a number of short stories including The Banshee of Adams, Massachusetts which short-listed for the Al Blanchard award. When not writing or practicing law, Keenan can be found oil painting, studying the Irish language, or hanging out with her friends at mystery conventions.

Three Tips to Inject Life into Your Story Settings by Debbie Burke

#inspiration, Inspiration, Tips and Tricks

When Elmore Leonard advised leaving out the parts that readers skip, he was probably referring to long, boring location descriptions that bring the story to a screeching halt.

But a rich setting is necessary to ground the reader in the story world. Readers want to feel immersed in the fictional universe, experiencing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and sensations the characters do.

So how do you write setting descriptions that people won’t skip?

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Naming Characters

Creating Characters

Recently while working on a first draft, I realized that I had named several characters “TK” (To Come) which was getting confusing. So, when I ran into the fabulous Sybil Johnson, the author of Brush Up for Murder at Bouchercon, I asked her to guest write a blog post on the topic. And here is what she said:

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