Although I’ve never encountered one, the possibility of seeing or sensing a ghost has intrigued me since I was a child. After my father died, I could swear I’d just seen him on a crowded sidewalk. Or I’d think I recognized him in a store or on a street, talking to someone or briefly looking…
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Enrich Your Fiction by Interviewing Real People in the Real World
This weekend, at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers conference in the Denver area, I’ll be sharing all my hard-won wisdom (?!) about how to interview anyone about anything to enrich your fiction. Many people may think of interviewing as something that writers only do for nonfiction, like articles, history books, or podcasts. Or you may…
Endings
Every editor and writing instructor will tell you how important the beginning of a book is. It sets the stage, draws the reader in, and likely influences whether the reader will buy (and read) the book at all. Lately I’ve been thinking about the importance of endings. My thoughts were drawn there partly because I’m…
Fog Emergency
So, COVID came to call on July 7. Initial symptoms passed quickly with medication and rest, but brain-fog and fatigue lingered for just short of two months. During that time, I ceased all writing activities–including this blog. Which is why I missed my deadline. During recovery, I couldn’t entertain more than one muddled thought at…
An Interview with Vella Author Robert Grayson
For the last ten months, I’ve been supplementing my income by writing serials on a platform called Vella, which is managed by Amazon. For more info on how Vella works, check out my older blog posts on this topic (here and here). I’ll also be presenting on this topic at our upcoming RMFW conference! Writing…