When I first started writing romance, I read many books by popular romance authors, trying to understand what made them popular. What was it about their books that appealed to readers? There were some whose success I simply didn’t understand. To me, their writing seemed average, their characters trite and boring, their plots predictable. It…
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Exit Stage Left
One of the tricky bits of being an artist is getting feedback and advice. In the beginning, fledgling artists need help finding their wings. It’s a common problem with novices in any field—not knowing what they don’t know and not knowing what to ask. Asking “How do you do it?” without adequate antecedent for that…
Deep POV Lesson 9 – Establishing POV
At the beginning of a scene (or when you switch POV in as scene, which we’ll talk about tomorrow), you have to clearly establish whose POV the scene is in. If you don’t, your reader will slow down or stop reading to clarify who’s talking. It’s like when there’s a long dialogue exchange and the…
Are your beta readers too nice?
For the first time in forever I’m not writing crime fiction. It’s a “regular” non-genre novel (whatever that is). Mainstream, I suppose. I’ve had many beta readers reading big chunks as it comes together—and I cannot thank them enough. I’ve had some excellent feedback, and I’ve been making adjustments as things progress. And then came last…
Rocky Mountain Writer #169
Lori Johnson – Independent Writer of the Year Finalist Amazon bestselling author Lori (L.A.) Johnson—one of three Independent Writer of the Year nominees for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers–writes humorous sci-fi and urban fantasy including the Neon Octopus Overlord Series, Neon Octopus Ally Series, and the Shadow Slayer Series. In fact, the Shadow Slayer Series is…