Although I am no longer giving a talk to the creative writers at Florida International University on April 2, I still have Five Tips for a Lifelong Writing Career. I am posting them in installments on my blog. My fifth and last tip is: Establish your game plan. I will... read more
Although I am no longer going to give a talk to the creative writers at Florida International University on April 2, I still have Five Tips for a Lifelong Writing Career. I am posting them in installments on my blog. My number four tip for a life-long writing career is:... read more
What’s a Decameron Special? First, I made it up. Second, it refers to Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron of 1353. Third, the Special means that I am offering all my books for free on all platforms. For how long? I can’t say. For at least as long as we are all... read more
Most prologues in books I’ve read lately don’t work for me. Not so for epilogues. I’m all for them. As the title image suggests, epilogues can be the orange twist atop your martini. Or, if you’re a non-drinker, the cherry on your cake. See: Prologues: Does Your Story Need One?... read more
One of the most famous prologues in the English language is to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. (See title image.) The purpose is to list and describe each of the pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. These are the people who will be telling their tales. Chaucer’s prologue is an introduction... read more
You already know that trilogies are sets of three stories. Maybe you have some in mind. The first one I thought of is the Jason Bourne movie trilogy based on the Robert Ludlum spy/thrillers. Then there’s the Lord of the Rings trilogy based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. It... read more
Last week the website Write It Sideways published a blog I submitted. Check out: Creating Chemistry: Bringing Love Relationship to Life. If you’re a romance writer, you want the relationship between your two main characters to sizzle. You’re in the business of creating chemistry. More precisely, you’re an alchemist. In... read more
This week The Creative Penn published my blog on Using Authentic Dialogue From Languages Other Than English. The site, created by Joanna Penn, is a wonderful resource for writers. And I’m delighted for my work to appear there. As a linguist and a novelist I have always loved creating characters... read more
I’m preparing to give a talk to the creative writers at Florida International University in Miami on April 2. The title is: Tips for a Life-Long Writing Career. I have five. And I’m posting them in installments. Today’s is #3: Know Your Market Tip #1: Write Good Books Tip #2:... read more
Tip #2 for a life-long writing career: Show Up For Work. Every Day. Every Day. As I said in my Tuesday blog, I’m preparing to give a talk to the creative writers at Florida International University on April 2. I have five tips for them. Tip #1 is: Write Good... read more
