Critique Groups and Beta Readers
Writers with more than one publication seldom work alone without help from a critique group, a writing partner, or a paid editor. This means they are sharing their Work In Progress (WIP) or...
A Reader’s Attention Span
How long do you give a new book to hook you? Readers of contemporary fiction don’t have the attention span and discretionary time that readers had in the 1900s. Or even a decade ago. Now, readers...
Choosing The Books I’m Reading
I read a lot. In fact, it’s my major recreation. Most writers do. It’s not that we’re looking for ideas. Writers simply enjoy the dance and frolic of the printed word. And there’s something...
Perfection in Home and Word
It’s not easy selling a house or finishing another murder mystery. I find myself combing the fringe on the downstairs rug and setting up a search in Word for every time I’ve over-used the word...
The Guilty Pleasures of Crime Fiction
I never wanted to hang out in a cop bar, or be a cop, but I’ve always been fascinated with police work and that’s why I write police procedurals. Most law enforcement jobs offer bursts of...
Common speech – Written speech
I’m marveling at the difference between common speech and dialogue that lays on the printed page as I edit my sixth crime fiction novel. If you ask anybody a question in daily life they don’t...
Moving from Place to Place
The Brits say “up sticks and moved house.” I like the way it makes moving sound—active and positive. For several months now that’s what I’ve been doing and trying to stay active and positive. I am...
The Magic of Storytelling
I live in a village of maybe 2000 people in the mountains of central California, seventy miles beyond the Los Angeles sprawl in the Los Padres National Forest. There’s a few restaurants, no movie...
The Books I Need
After what’s felt like a long, cold winter, I’m packing up my house, getting ready to move. I can’t bear the cold in my Central California mountain village. Since I grew up in northern Ontario, I...
