Jennie Goutet Shares A Day in Her Life @ALadyInFrance #Memoir #NonFiction #AmReading

If you know that I live in France, you might expect that a day in my life is . . . well . . . if not exotic, then at least interesting. Sometimes it is. When I go for my semi-annual checkup at the dentist, I exit the train where the Arc de Triomphe is and watch the cars zip by in the roundabout there. I stare down the massive Champs Elysées, teeming with people and shops on both sides of the avenue, before turning on to the slightly smaller avenue...

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@LeskoLori Takes Us Deep Into the Mind of an #Author - #Thriller #AmReading

Inside the Mind of the Author Why do writers put themselves through such torture? We get an idea for a book and we’re off to the races with it! This is it! I know this one will be my breakthrough novel. I’ll win every award there is to win. Movie producers will call me endlessly to option my book and make it into a screenplay. Move over J. K. Rowling, there’s a new writer in town. Yeah, right. The truth is, unless you’re a genius or have been...

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Tracy Weber on Writing & #Yoga @TracyWeberTypes #CozyMystery #AmWriting

Several things inspired me to become a writer: a lifelong love of cozy mysteries; a passion for yoga; an almost obsessive love of dogs; a next door neighbor who is also a prolific author. I can even narrow down the specific moment I decided to write the Downward Dog Mystery series. It involved a rainy night, a particularly challenging workout, and a passage from Susan Conant’s book Black Ribbon. But in the end, the inspiration for Murder...

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Claudette Melanson Shares RISING TIDE’s Playlist #Vampire #Romance #NowListening

For every writer, there’s a unique recipe for inspiration.  The right conditions come together to somehow feed the story in the mind.  Some authors dream scenes while sleeping, others glean ideas from movies they’ve watched or books they’ve read.  For many, one of the biggest sources of inspiration comes from music.  All these elements have come into play for my own writing, but music has had the biggest influence on the ideas...

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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Being An #Author by @michelleargyle #SelfPub #WriteTip

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author I remember back in the 90’s when I first had the dream of becoming a published author, when email didn’t really exist in publishing. You still sent in your queries to agents on printed paper with an SASE (self addressed stamped envelope), and you waited for the answers at the mailbox. It was also the golden age of believing published authors all lived in posh New York apartments or big,...

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Message of the Pendant by Thomas Thorpe #Historical #Mystery #AmReading

At 9:23 A.M., a scream echoed down the hallway. Julia, the upstairs maid, ran to the stairway, breathlessly imploring guests below.”Come quick! I think she’s dead!” William reached the landing a half step ahead of Sir Winthrop. The two raced up stairs, reaching Lady Carlisle’s doorway behind several other responders. By the time Elizabeth arrived, the two men bent over a motionless figure on Lady Carlisle’s bed. As she approached, she could see...

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David Graham on Biographies for Characters @DavidANGraham #Thriller #WriteTip #AmReading

The easiest way I’d recommended to make your characters believable is to draw on traits of people you know when fleshing them out. Obviously, the most important thing is that your character be interesting to a reader. That usually means something dramatic or unique which will draw the reader in whether it’s a formative event, a character trait or something else. If the reader can’t relate to the character, though, this ‘hook’ no matter how compelling...

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Richard Parry on Good vs. Evil & Character Motivation @TactualRain #WriteTip #Fantasy

You ever seen one of those villains in a movie that cackles with glee, rubbing their hands together at the downfall of the heroes?  Just being a bit of a dick? The thing is, people are dicks all the time, but only super rarely do they wake up in the morning and say to themselves, “You know, it’s Tuesday: I’m going to be a dick today.” If we start from there, it gives us our first hint on how to make our characters more real.  Start with...

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