I jotted down nine quotes from panelists at Left Coast Crime (April 7 – 10) in Albuquerque: “Don’t be afraid to break the rules that need to be broken to tell the story you need to tell.” – Mysti Berry, writer, editor, and publisher of Low Down Dirty Vote “All writing comes down to saying ‘this…
Today, I am—like many who are reading this post—juggling writing my next novel, while marketing my last (Whispers for Terra). I don’t know about each of you, but I live quietly in a state of overwhelmedness (if that’s not a word, it needs to be). A 4-wheeling Jeep term is ‘go as fast as you…
I grew up in a household of mild to moderate hoarding. My mom has multiple scents of liquid hand soap for every season (and I’m not just talking the four main ones; I mean like tulip season and Advent). My dad’s hoarding reached its peak—I hope—during the pandemic, when supply chain issues prompted him to…
Odds are your writing is never going to be made into a screenplay and filmed by a Hollywood producer, requiring you to give a 5-minute acceptance speech at the Oscars. However, thinking cinematically by creating a screenplay outline will help you focus and organize your writing. A screenplay describes characters, scenes, and action—all essential elements…
You encounter your new next-door neighbor when you’re out walking the dog and they tell you how the movers still haven’t showed up, which means they spent their first night in an unfamiliar house sleeping in their clothes on the floor, huddled together in their sleeping bags. Then the two of you talk about how…