by Shannon Donnelly I’ve been thinking a lot about story endings, probably because I’m getting close to one in the book I’m working on. But also we watched 2 Guns the other day and it has a fabulous mirror from the beginning to ending—that mirror technique where the last scene echoes the opening scene, but […]

  I'll admit to being 'adverb adverse'. It’s one of my reading pet peeves  I’m reading along, immersed in the story when I start to notice them. And once I do, every one becomes a drop of water on my forehead, drip, drip, dripping until I want to heave the book.  They irritate me enough […]

Margie Lawson THANK YOU to all the uber-talented and uber-fun WITS gals for inviting me to guest blog again! Ready for some fun? Margie’s Rule #5: If the Hyphenated-Run-On Fits… If you’re a Margie-grad, you know I love well written hyphenated-run-ons. That’s my term for stringing three or more words together with hyphens. They give […]

Natalia Sylvester You know how some authors will tell you that their characters just speak to them, taking on a life of their own? I cringe when I hear this. I twitch a little. I kinda, sorta want to call B.S. (but that’s probably because I’m jealous). I have a hard time believing characters speak […]

One of the first things aspiring authors hear is a laundry list of things they should be doing to ensure success. If you somehow missed those directives, here are the “right things” you should be doing: Join a writing group. There are quite a few organizations out there to help writers at every stage in […]