One of my favorite movies of all time, Front Page, features one of the first cinematic examples of what has come to be known as “snappy dialog”: a rapid-fire exchange of witty banter and rejoinders. When a stand-up comedian drops a clunker (delivers a joke that earns little to no laughter) he can sometimes be…
Tag: fiction
Something Extra
I recently read a women’s fiction novel by an author I’ve enjoyed before, Lisa Jewell. It had the usual things she does well: interesting characters, complex relationships, an appealing and well-developed setting. But it had something else, a suspense plot. This “something extra” made it an even more compelling book. The book worked as women’s…
Rocky Mountain Writer #87
Laurence MacNaughton & A Kiss Before Doomsday We check back in with Laurence MacNaughton, whose new urban fantasy A Kiss Before Doomsday is set to launch in a few short weeks, just about a year after he debuted his new series with It Happened One Doomsday. We are back with Dru Jasper and her crystal…
Gary Reilly Was The Greatest Writer I Ever Knew
Gary Reilly was the greatest writer I ever knew. Variety, volume, and quality. All three. RMFW writer friends of mine – and anyone writing fiction out there – I ask this: how many writers do you know who put together 25 novels (most of them in near-perfect shape) without ever receiving a word of encouragement…
Novels Are Like Onions
When I started writing, my biggest hang-up was the misguided notion of Writer with a capital W. If I’m a real Writer, I thought, I should be able to sit down whenever I feel like it and write something good—nay, groundbreaking! If I’m a real Writer, the words should magically pour forth from my sweat…