August 20, 2025
Recently I’ve been reading emails from long-time writers who are stepping back from writing. Their reasons vary. Some, like me, simply haven’t come up with a new idea that makes them want to spend hours/days/sometimes years writing a story. Some have health problems that are preventing them from sitting at a computer for hours. Some […]
August 4, 2021
“How does it end?” A writer friend asked me that question recently after I told him a bit about the story I have started writing. His question stopped me. I’ve been having fun with this story, basically letting it write itself. I’ve been a “Pantser.” (Writing by the seat of my pants.) But I want […]
July 14, 2021
Wonder why you’re having a difficult time getting your book noticed? I’ve been going through some of my old files (time to update and throw away) and came across a sheet showing 2006 Publishing Statistics as reported by Nielsen Bookscan. I’m not going to post all of the statistics in that report, but here are […]
April 14, 2021
Temperature and humidity rising. Time to head north. Time to decide what stays in Florida and what will travel with us. In some ways I like this process. I review my clothes, art supplies, and books. Three piles: the stay, the take, and give to Goodwill. I always have great plans of what I will […]
February 17, 2021
There are aspects I really like about self-publishing a book: control over content, cover, and blurb. I also like receiving a higher royalty and the ability to tract sales, or at least receive more up-to-date accounting of sales. There are also aspects of being my own publisher that I don’t like or find extremely difficult. […]
January 20, 2021
No, I’m not talking about political change, though that’s definitely occurring. For me, one change is this year I’m self-publishing a book (from start to finish). My other big change is my website is going to look different. Sometime this week (or month), if you visit my website (https://marissoule.com ) it will have a new […]
September 30, 2020
I’m in the process of writing a blurb for the book I just finished. Blurbs and synopses, in my opinion, are as difficult (or maybe more difficult) as writing a book. In a limited number of words, I need to convey enough of the story to entice readers to want to purchase the book. Or, […]
September 16, 2020
Last week I typed “The End” on a story I’ve been working on for four years. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to write this story. I haven’t suffered any earthshaking catastrophe, loss, or illness (other than a few months of pain when I broke my back), and I didn’t need months […]
June 3, 2020
The coronavirus has made many changes in our lives. Writers are facing new challenges in ways to promote their books. Bookstores have been closed (some are reopening, but author talks and signings have been cancelled); physical author tours have been cancelled; conferences have been cancelled; libraries are still closed, which means talks at libraries have […]
April 8, 2020
On-line, members of a writers’ group I belong to have been posting what they’ve been doing during the lockdown. I’ve been interested in the responses–which vary from watching a lot of TV to accomplishing a couple thousand words a day–because I’ve done almost no creative writing in the last month. I also haven’t been binge […]
March 18, 2020
Talent plays a very small role in a writer’s chances for success. I’ve read wonderful stories that will either (1) never be published or, even if published, (2) will never be financially successful. Oh, persistence helps, along with a good story, knowing the market, and knowing how to present your work to agents and editors. […]
March 11, 2020
I hate interruptions when I’m writing. The deeper I get into a story, the more I become a part of the story–I am the protagonist, the villain, the secondary characters. I am living where they live, seeing what they see, feeling their emotions. That is until… The phone rings. My husband comes into the room […]
January 1, 2020
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019 was an unusual year for me. It included a fall (backwards), 2 ½ months of pain pills until the reason for the pain was finally diagnosed (fractured L3), 3 months of wearing a back brace 24/7, an early journey south to Florida, the purchase of a condo, and for the last […]
February 6, 2019
When I wrote The Crows, I thought it was a single title mystery. It wasn’t until after the The Crows was released and I was doing book talks that I was asked when the next P.J. Benson Mystery would be out. A second book? Hmm. As I wrote the second P.J. Benson Mystery (As the […]
December 26, 2018
I don’t know about you, but the day after Christmas and the week before New Year’s Eve is always a little depressing for me. The cheerful “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” greetings end, most of the romantic or hopeful holiday shows cease to be shown, and the major networks are consumed with highlighting the past […]
October 31, 2018
Recently I attended the inaugural, one-day Southwest Michigan Writers’ Conference chaired and coordinated by Brian R. Johnston, Head of Public Services at the Lincoln Township Public Library. The event was sponsored by a group of southwest Michigan libraries, and held at the beautiful Niles District Library. Most of the men and women attending were writers […]
July 25, 2018
I thought converting the PDF file I had that Hale Books Ldt used to print the hardcover version of A KILLER PAST would be easy. Simply convert the PDF document to a Word document, go through it and change the English use of single quotes for dialogue to our American way of using double quote […]
July 18, 2018
A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I have been working on so many things lately, my mind is a jumble. Last Friday I thought I had my previously published romance, LYON’S PRIDE, ready to upload to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. Actually I did upload the file, but then I started reading […]
July 11, 2018
Last week I finished reading Lisa Gardner’s novel, Catch Me, and it started me thinking about some of the critique sessions I’ve sat in and blogs I’ve written that cover topics like point-of-view and how to format a manuscript. Why? Because in that book, Lisa uses both first person and third person point of view […]
June 27, 2018
I finished writing and editing what I often call my “Old Lady” book in 2011. A KILLER PAST is the story of Mary Harrington, a 74-year- old widow who for 44 years has been living a quiet life in a small Michigan town. It’s only when two gang members try to mug Mary that her […]