I am so pleased to share with you a new release from my writing partner, Kristie Kiessling. I am such a fan of her work! This one, as you can see from the cover, is a book of poetry: Love trips the heart to wild beating. Breathless ecstasy threatens to stop it. Tremendous suffering tears the body or rends the soul. Emotions both glorious and horrendous produce sweat, tears and blood. They engage all sides, joy and pain, light and dark. They encompass the very essence of what it is to be human. All this wide array, this life experience, […]
Playing Tag with Dialogue
Dialogue tags, or attributions, tell the reader who’s speaking. The default setting is he said/she said. Easy, right? Nice and straightforward, nothing complicated. It’s practically invisible, until the author throws forty-seven of them into one page. Some authors feel an overwhelming urge to spice things up and get creative; they want to make sure the reader really understands the dialogue and accompanying emotion. They bombard us with synonyms and avoid he said/she said as if they were fatal diseases. I’m reading a novel by a popular author, and came under an assault that very nearly made me put the book down. (Curiosity prompts me […]
“As the Crow Flies” Blog Tour
As the Crow Flies is coming in paperback! I couldn’t be more excited. To celebrate the upcoming release I am setting up a virtual book tour for the week of June 3-9. What’s on the itinerary? A giveaway Interviews Guest posts Excerpts Reviews* Spotlights Book Description “One more job” means that Crow, a notorious thief, can retire with Tarsha, the woman of his dreams, but “one more job” may just mean his life. When Crow sets out to steal that last brilliant treasure and seek a life of ease and pleasure with the jewel of his heart, he seriously underestimates his mark, the […]
Blast! (And Drat! Or… “The Best-Laid Plans”)
Blast! Drat! and FOOEY!I have come to the realization, after exercising my patience nearly into oblivion, that the name of Comcast’s “Blast! Internet Service” has nothing at all to do with speed and everything to do with the reaction of customers when their connection regularly slows to a standstill, whether hard-wired in or not. Fearing my browser was the culprit, I’ve tried two others. It doesn’t help. Neither, you should know, does jumping up and down and hollering “Blast! Blast! BLAST!”, though it did contribute to my cardio workout. As luck would have it, being productive today depended upon having […]
Passive vs. Non-Aggressive Voice
I love a good info-graphic, and this one is a good follow-up to my last post, in which I lamented the shortcomings of using the passive voice. Sometimes that “be” verb is necessary, but often—usually—it can be replaced with action verbs that draw a reader happily to the conclusion of a book. Hopefully, he’ll have a smile on his face and look slightly disheveled after the thrilling experience… Courtesy of grammar.net The subject is continued if you want to further investigate Filter Words, which “unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view.” (Dark Angel, author of the now […]
Book Review: Sinai by William Smethurst
Are you a connoisseur of Egyptology? I can’t really say that I am, though I do enjoy trivial bits of information about the area, the people that lived there, mythology, weapons, and artwork. My dad went on a tour of Egypt and came back with pictures and presents for everyone, and he piqued my curiosity. I also enjoy the occasional historical thriller. When the publisher invited me to read and review this book, I found the description intriguing: From the Egypt of The Exodus, to an Egypt falling under an Islamic revolution… A story that starts in 1350BC and ends […]
Fantasy and Magic Systems – Guest Post by Jon Thomason
Today I am lucky to have guest Jon Thomason as part of the blog tour hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer. Jon is the author of Max Xylander and the Island of Zumuruud, “a fast-paced fantasy adventure for all ages. Fans of magic, swordplay, secret agents, and conspiracies set in a modern everyday world will not be able to put the book down. Jon Thomason paints a vivid world of magic right under our noses and delivers rapid-fire action that keeps the pages turning.” I’ve asked Jon why he chose to write fantasy, and what were his feelings […]
Book Review: The Farseer Trilogy
In the mood to read a good, solid fantasy trilogy, I picked up the Farseer series by Robin Hobb. It was highly recommended on every “Top Fantasy Reads” list I looked at. That’s really saying something, eh? “Assassin’s Apprentice” (Book 1) begins with the main character as an old man recalling his life story, starting at the tender age of six. Right away, the reader knows she’s in for an ambitious story. Being a writer myself, I appreciate the foreshadowing that Hobbs deftly employed here as well as the organization that goes behind it. The author has a straightforward style […]
Julie Forward DeMay, The Cell War Notebooks, and the Power of Words
Today, January 31st, is IndiesForward day – a special blogging event dedicated to spreading the legacy of Julie Forward DeMay and her touching memoir, The Cell War Notebooks. What would you do when faced with a battle for your life? Author, photographer and creative spirit Julie Forward DeMay took on her fight with cervical cancer like she was playing for the new high score in her favorite video game, Asteroids. Inspiring, witty, beautiful and brutally honest, The Cell War Notebooks is a compilation of the blog Julie kept during the last seven months of her life. It’s a powerful read […]
World Building 101, Guest Post by Patrick W. Carr
I am so pleased to have Patrick W. Carr, author of the fantasy novel “A Cast of Stones,” as my guest today as part of the blog tour hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer. Patrick not only writes, but he also teaches high school math in Nashville, Tennessee. Hooray for teachers! Hooray for authors! I enjoyed reading his insights, and I can already see one point I am going to take away from this… World Building 101 When I set out to write “A cast of Stones” the first thing I did was set my time period. […]