Debbie--I find I'm less tolerant of tangents than I used to be. I guess that's because there's always another book on my Kindle I can switch to. But I still love the kind of book you mention where interesting tidbits of history and geography are woven seamlessly into the story.

I really admire authors who can incorporate interesting research tidbits into the action w/o slowing down the pace. That's a real skill. Learning is part of the joy of reading but only when it moves the story forward while imparting knowledge.

The Hour of the Moth is a fun, fast read as all your books are.

Sally--I was on the archery team at Bryn Mawr, and I don't think I ever heard the term "archess" but then, we don't much like girly suffixes at the Mothership.

This is my first invitation to WITS, but maybe I'll be asked back to discuss more of those writerly terms. 🙂

Question: Is a female archer an archess? 🙂

Great reminder of what Chechov's Gun is. It's easy to forget (when we don't run into the terminology often) which device is which. the origins of these terms is interesting, too. Will you be posting further articles about: McGuffin, red herring, Deux ex machina, in media res, and so forth?

Denise-I'm glad it helps!

Patti--I'm glad to know I've helped with your first book. Publishing your first book is an exciting time.

Boy, do I hear you on this!

Jenny--Thanks for inviting me! You're so right that some characters need to step up, or step out of the story. Readers get confused. We forget it takes a lot less time to read a book than write it. Sometimes we spend a lot of time with a character, but in the final version, they may end up only speaking two lines.