Characters: The Heart of Your Story
What’s your favorite book? What do you remember about it that makes it your favorite? Was it the plot? Or was it character? One of mine is Lonesome Dove. Read the first chapter and tell you don’t know who all those characters are by the end of it and want to follow their story? New […]
Survival 2: Introduction
Task One-again. Mild: Did you get the two cases of water bottles for each person in your household? If you did, you’ve just taken the most important step in preparation for an emergency or natural disaster: an adequate supply of water for at least six days for each person. If you didn’t, you’re still procrastinating, […]
Your Voice as a Writer: Point of View
Honestly, this is the hardest topic to discuss or teach. For example, I wrote New York Minute in omniscient, translucent, single character. Right. Got it? What I mean is I wrote in omniscient voice, which is different than third person, but following only one character, my protagonist Will Kane. The translucent means I was behind […]
Survival 1: Forward by Bob’s Wife: A Procrastinator and Believer in Making Luck Backwards
This is the first of a series of posts on Monday about survival. Task One: Mild: Get two cases of bottled water for each person in your household. By Deb: If you’re like me, you don’t buy books about surviving things. Why? Probably because you think that you won’t survive them anyway, so why bother? […]
A Baratheon on the Iron Throne with a Stark as Hand
That’s how it started, that’s how it will end. That’s why it’s a Game of Thrones. As writers, we work with what we have. Looking at the myriad possibilities, it makes sense to have Gendry, the true heir to the Iron Throne as Robert Baratheon’s bastard (certainly more of a claim than Jon Snow who […]
The Secret Handshake to Publishing Success
This morning I read another story about the ten keys to success as an indie writer. I read articles about the essential things a writer must do to get an agent. I read articles on how to succeed as an author. Reading those is part of the job. They are all well intentioned. Occasionally there […]
FREE Bundle today only
FREE today only: 2 books in one. Special Ops 2. This is The Jefferson Allegiance and Chasing the Ghost in one bundle. Today, 12 May only. Also, I have a limited number of free Audible download codes for the first Area 51 book. If interested, email me at bob@bobmayer.com and I’ll give them away until […]
The Original Idea: The Heart of Your Story. The #1 Problem with most manuscripts
It all starts with an idea. Which is not story. The two are different. Story can change. Idea can’t. Every idea has been done; but not every story. Confused? After three decades writing, over 75 books, and having taught hundreds of workshops, I believe locking down a writer’s idea is the number one problem most […]
Looking People in the Eye and Autism
When I lived on Hilton Head Island, I’d occasionally drive to the outdoor grill in Harbor Town with Rex, our rescue dog. I’d sit and someone would quickly come over. With water for Rex. They’d fawn over him, say what a cute dog he was and walk away; without taking my order. The bartender at […]
The First Step In Preparing: The Area Study
Many people flail about when they think about what they might need to do in order to prepare for natural and man-made disasters. There’s a lot of information out there and its overwhelming. What I learned when studying this topic was that too many manuals and guides jumped right into the bunker mentality and buying […]
What Should You Have In Your Car For Emergencies?
There are two aspects to this– how far you want to go. And how much your spouse will let you put in there. To the left is my beast, which is loaded with enough gear to live off of for a couple of weeks. Of course, my wife never drives it and tries not to […]
New York City Up To The Revolution
New York Minute is set in the city in the summer of 1977, which was a tumultuous time, to say the least. Son of Sam was still active; the city was facing bankruptcy; and the population was actually decreasing. But in writing the book I did some research on the history of the city. This […]