Head over to Morro Bay this Sunday, April 6th, from 1:00-3:00 pm, at Coalesce Bookstore on Main Street, where I will be part of the SinC Central Coast Chapter book event. There will be 8 local authors of mystery/suspense there … Continue reading
Tension (aka suspense) is vital no matter what genre we write. Without tension, our writing feels flat and boring, even if the prose is beautiful. Those who write in the mystery/suspense/thriller genres have a bit easier row to hoe, since … Continue reading
Here’s one you can use as is about your friend, or substitute your character. It’s another way to twist the way you look at your characters to help you find the weird, the wonderful, the wacky, the unique. You can … Continue reading
Juxtaposing opposite concepts often leads us into new territory. Opposites both attract and repel. Built-in tension! Learning to use opposing concepts to delineate and define the themes in our writing lifts our stories to a higher level. Write Over the … Continue reading
Certain phrases are iconic. They can unlock the child in us and free our imagination to go just about anywhere. When that happens, amazing things emerge from our subconscious minds. Here’s one of the most iconic phrase to start you … Continue reading
As writers, we want our characters and our settings to be memorable and unique. This isn’t always easy to accomplish. They key is to look at your characters and settings as something other than what they actually are. That way, … Continue reading
Off-the-wall concepts can often jump-start our creativity because they are so ridiculous from the outset that our conscious logic goes out the window. We are able to set aside pre-conceived notions about how things are supposed to be and simply … Continue reading
I love to learn new words when I’m reading a book. And I’m especially pleased when a writer uses the new-to-me word in a way that allows me to figure out its meaning from the context alone. That way I … Continue reading
It’s here, finally, my new book. I am pleased and excited to announce the launch of Proof of Identity, a paranormal suspense novel, in both print and as an ebook. Both are available on Amazon, the print as part of … Continue reading
Disparate concepts make us stretch and twist to make logical connections. Unlike in life, things in fiction have to make sense, no matter how disconnected they seem to be. Trust your subconscious to find the logical links. Try this and … Continue reading