Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Writers?

I heard that this weekend at the Writers of the Flathead Conference in Kalispell, Montana. I remember David Morrell saying the same thing at Thrillerfest several years ago. It’s a mantra. It used to worry me when I heard it, but then I realized my day job is...

On Covers and the Importance of Title

Perhaps the biggest mistake I made early in my writing career involved titles. I’d never gone to a writing conference or had any classes on publishing. I was living overseas in the Orient, studying martial arts. This was pre-Internet– yes there was a time...

“Worst Advice I’ve Heard from a Speaker”

This was what someone posted on a conference twitter thread that I recently spoke at. Of course, the speaker was moi. Making friends and sowing happiness wherever I go. The advice was to query every agent who attended the conference whether the attendee met the agent...

Every Author is Different based on the Three P’s

Product, Platform, Promotion. We all rate differently on those three, therefore any writing advice we get has to be factored through our own personal situation. One size does not fit all. I call my book on writing a Toolkit because I don’t believe there are any...

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...