By Stephen A. Benjamin How many times have writers been asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” If we all had the proverbial nickel for each . . . Every time I give some nebulous and unsatisfying answer to the cocktail party query, I wonder if I should have something more cogent in my reply, and…
Category: Blog
Coming to a Genre Crossroads
I’ve always been big on mixing genres, long before it became a thing. I’ve blogged about it before. I love the various juxtapositions you can get by tossing a genre salad into an innovatively unique story. As an omnivorous reader, I can’t help but enjoy adding a little of this and a little of that…
Adventures in Genre Writing: Lesson Nine-How Much Sex? How Much Romance?
By Jeanne C. Stein Sex in writing is always a touchy subject—pun intended. Where does love making end and erotica begin? How much sex is too much? Do you have to have sex in your story? Let’s start with the last question first. To be frank, most readers of genres such as UF or (of…
Coming to Terms with Book Reviews
By Jeffe Kennedy This is the cover for the Italian translation of my erotic romance, Going Under. I love it so hard. A girl never forgets her first translation. 🙂 A little known fact about me (I think) is that I spent many years studying martial arts – primarily Chinese internal styles. I still practice…
Whack the Cliché
By Mark Stevens Is it possible to write a 100,000-word novel that is devoid of clichés? Completely scrubbed free of all tired descriptions, predictable scenes, over-used descriptions, seen-them-all-before characters? A panel* on clichés at Left Coast Crime last month in Portland sparked my thinking. First, check this out: The word cliché is drawn from the…