Sense of Scents
Whether it’s a bus belching fumes as it rounds a corner, or the sweet scent at the back of a[…]
Read moreA Blog for Readers and Writers of Mystery, Crime, and Suspense Fiction
Whether it’s a bus belching fumes as it rounds a corner, or the sweet scent at the back of a[…]
Read moreI am a reader who looks forward to new releases by my favorite authors. I know Tana French has[…]
Read moreThe tagline for The Millionaire (Is Truth for Sale?) came to me when I sat at my keyboard, metaphorically bleeding from the forehead, trying to boil down the essence of the book into a catchy phrase, eight words or shorter.
Read more“Sexual repression, dark alleys, great detectives, ornate prose,” says author James McCreet (“Why we all love a Victorian Murder,” The Guardian, 15 May 2011). “No wonder the 19th century is our template for crime fiction. A murder is somehow more quintessentially English when committed on the cobbles of a foggy East End alley. If there’s a silhouetted top hat, a rustle of crinoline and a scream cut short with straight razor, all the better.”
I couldn’t agree more. Here are my Top Ten Reasons why Victorian England is the perfect setting for murder:
One of the great pleasures of going to London, (which is where I am now), is that you have the[…]
Read moreHappy New Year to all Miss Demeanors wonderful readers! Today I wanted to ring in 2024 by introducing you to[…]
Read moreSo you’ve waited until the last minute to buy your gifts. Or you have one of those impossible people on[…]
Read morePlease welcome Clay Stafford, the Renaissance man who has developed KILLER NASHVILLE with its Silver Falchion Award into an international[…]
Read moreWhen 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?
Read moreWriters can be difficult to buy gifts for. Most are not clothes horses, unless you are talking about sweats, socks,[…]
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