By Gayle Lynds Reposted from January 2018, when the snow was even deeper than it is now. Brrr! Our front yard. Yep. It’s true that winter can drive some of us writers into dark, metaphorical caves, but then we escape the despair and boredom by throwing ourselves into our writing. Whew. Or,...
BREAKING IN A NEW PAIR OF SHOES
By Tracy Clark I've had a heck of a time writing lately. Shirtsleeves up. Eyes on my laptop. Fingers on the keyboard. Digging for diamonds like those seven little Disney guys. I started a new crime series. And I’m a pantser. Feel me? This means I started with zip, which is fine. I always start...
ASK THE ROGUES: What Do Writers Dream?
by Gayle Lynds I’ve had a number of restless nights lately. You know what I mean — weird stuff speeding through my brain, banging at my consciousness, trying to be useful (or not). Mostly, it’s about writing — I’m working on a couple of different novels at the same time. In the past, the...
FAIL. PLEASE!
by Gayle Lynds This is the best writing advice I ever got. Learning to write well is like climbing a greased pole. You make a couple of feet of progress (exhilarating!), but then you slide back a foot, or more (groan!). In the beginning I was climbing and sliding, climbing and sliding, having...
TESS GERRITSEN GOES ROGUE
Introduction by KJ Howe: Writing one dynamic book is a real accomplishment. Keeping a series fresh is a monumental task. It takes a creative mind and an endless amount of energy. Learn from iconic author Tess Gerritsen how to keep your series sparkling. Welcome to the Rogues, Tess! Keeping A...
ASK THE ROGUES: What’s a writer to do in winter?
The grandchildren’s winter treehouse in Gayle’s yard By Gayle Lynds It’s seven degrees here in Maine. Snow blankets the forest. Squirrels are hiding in their nests. Deer, foxes, and porcupines are out of sight, too, keeping warm, I hope. I step outdoors, and my nose turns red. My lips are so...
MARKETING TIPS FOR AUTHORS (FROM THE PROS!)
by Karna Small Bodman “The truth is: Many authors spend 25% of their time writing, but 75% of their time marketing” – that’s a quote from a New York Times bestselling author appearing on a panel at Thrillerfest – the annual meeting of our International Thriller Writers organization. Anyone can...
WHAT TO DO WHEN WRITING FEELS HARD
By Carla Neggers With the many unprecedented challenges of the past year-plus, I dug out an essay I wrote a few years ago for Writes of Passage, an award-winning collection put together by Sisters in Crime and published by Henery Press. I thought I’d share it here. More than once over the...
ZJ CZUPOR’S MYSTERY MINUTE
Have you always wondered how to write a best selling thriller novel and fast? ZJ Czupor debunks the flashy tips and tricks and takes us on a historical survey through some of the best thrillers ever written.