Recently I was asked by two people (different times) to do a blog about query letters. I did write a short one last year during the April A to Z Challenge. https://marissoule.com/q-is-for-query/ If you’re wondering what you should or shouldn’t put in a query letter, please take a moment to read that earlier blog. A […] [ ... ]
I’m sorry I missed last week’s blog, but a call from my brother-in-law had us hurrying to close up the place in Florida and head north. We didn’t make it in time to see my mother-in-law before she passed, but we did make the visitation and funeral. Now that the funeral is over, I’m trying […] [ ... ]
It doesn’t matter if what you’ve written is five pages long or five thousand pages, or if it’s fiction or non-fiction; the first page is your most important page. That first page must do a multitude of tasks. It introduces your topic or story, shows the reader your writing style, and, hopefully, makes the reader […] [ ... ]
Last weekend I participated in the Venice Book Fair (Venice, FL). It’s the town’s fifth book fair and it gets better every year. This one started Friday night with a 90-minute master class led by thriller author, David Hagberg, followed by a wine and cheese reception, then a presentation by Oceanview Publishing, and finally a few […] [ ... ]
One Guest of Honor at Sleuthfest 2016 was Valerie Plame. On Saturday, Paul Levine interviewed Plame. I took notes, but I’m sure I missed some important information. The following is what I picked up from the interview. Valerie Plame is the CIA operative whose identity was revealed by the Bush administration after her husband, Ambassador […] [ ... ]
The first session I attended while at Sleuthfest 2016 was to help me with some research. I’m thinking of doing another Mary Harrington book, and if I do, her counterpart, Jack Rossini, may need to investigate a bomb explosion. So at 8:30 am Friday morning, I was sitting in a too-cold hotel conference room listening to […] [ ... ]
Sometimes a disaster turns into a great adventure. (Of course that’s because I’m not the one, in this case, who will have to pay for the damage.) Last month, Mary Ann Aug, a fellow sister in Sisters in Crime, responded when I asked if anyone going to Sleuthfest would be willing to share a the […] [ ... ]
Tomorrow I’m heading for Deerfield Beach, Florida to attend Sleuthfest 2016. This is the fourth (or maybe it’s the fifth) Sleuthfest I’ve attended. Each has been a wonderful experience, so I’m looking forward to this one. Next week I’ll try to sum up some of what I learn at the conference. Meanwhile, so far in these […] [ ... ]
Narrative is basically anything that’s not dialogue, which means it includes dialogue tags and action tags. Whereas grammar rules can be ignored, if desired, when writing dialogue, those rules should be followed with narrative. If you’re not sure about the rules, there are books (Shrunk & White’s Elements of Style; Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots & […] [ ... ]
Dialogue is used for a variety of purposes. To convey information To help define character To break up the monotony of long passages of narrative and provide more white space on the page Dialogue tags are the narrative that tells the reader who is speaking. “Good morning, students,” the teacher said. “Help!” she screamed, hoping […] [ ... ]
One of the first decisions a writer must make when starting a story is whose point-of-view (pov) to use? Will the author tell the story? A narrator? One of the characters? Several of the characters? At the end of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century it was common for an all […] [ ... ]
Normally I would go from formatting to point-of-view or verb tense when writing about craft, but last week I read two items that I wanted to share. According to UNESCO over 2.2 million books are published each year. The word “over” is because the count only includes books with an ISBN. There are also many […] [ ... ]
Unless you’re writing solely for yourself (and maybe for your family and a few friends) you need to know the craft of writing: formatting; point-of-view; chapter length; what tense to use, and so on. Although getting the story you want to tell out of your head and into some sort of printable form is the […] [ ... ]
If all goes well, and if you read this blog on January 13, 2016, my husband and I are now in Panama City, Panama. While here, we’ll be doing a couple days of sightseeing. Friday we’ll catch a plane and fly to Bocas del Toro. From there we’ll take a boat ride to one of […] [ ... ]
When I hear someone talking about giving a pitch, I think they mean they’re going to pitch a story to an agent or editor. However, last Saturday I attended a meeting for a start-up Sisters-in-Crime chapter where the program was to be “Pitches,” and discovered what we’d be doing is “Pitching” our books to the […] [ ... ]
Do you have something you’d really like to accomplish? Some place to visit? A certain book to write? A painting to paint? Person to see again? Skill to learn? This past year has really pointed out to me how important it is for a person to—as the Nike slogan says—Just Do It! In 2015 two […] [ ... ]
I’m in Florida now. Today the temperature reached 83 degrees. Having grown up in California, it doesn’t seem strange not having snow on the ground at Christmas time, but I will admit, having lived in Michigan for a few decades, I’ve grown to enjoy that white stuff covering the ground and making tree branches glissen. Snow makes everything look […] [ ... ]
Last week I received my Authors Guild Fall 2015 Bulletin. In it one article echoed the feelings I’ve had this year. Roxana Robinson, AG President, wrote “Should Writers Be Performers?” Her point, which I feel is true, is that over the years publishing houses, large and small, in order to help their bottom line, have […] [ ... ]
I don’t know about others, but I’ve always found December to be a difficult time to be a writer. Holiday parties, luncheons, dinners, and family gatherings can mess up a writing schedule. There’s gift buying, cards to be written, mailed, received, and read. When my children were young, my writing schedule had to be forgotten […] [ ... ]
The last Killer Nashville Conference session I want to summarize was on Short Stories, ranging from Flash Fiction (which might be anything from a few words up to 1000) to short stories that are nearly novellas. The panelists for this session were: Ray Anderson, Kay Elam, Robert Mangeot, Carolyn McSparren, and Debra Goldstein. Flash Fiction […] [ ... ]