Shannon Donnelly I don’t actually believe in writer's block. That probably makes me sound arrogant, but what I’ve found is that blocks are actually your writer instincts trying to get your attention—and what better way than to stop you cold? Every writer needs good instincts. You have to have that gut feeling when you’re scene […]

 Chuck Sambuchino The time has come. Your novel or memoir or book proposal is now complete. Not only is it complete, you’ve revised it several times and incorporated the critical ideas of peers and editors to make it better. You’ve developed a list of agents to target and researched each one. You’re ready. It’s time […]

Piper Bayard We don't often discuss thrillers and spies here at Writers In The Storm because none of us has any experience writing them. We jumped at the chance to have Piper Bayard visit us. If you've ever been to the Bayard & Holmes blog, you'll know that she's well qualified to write on the topic. […]

by Susan Squires The road to writing a successful romance always leads through good sexual tension. It doesn’t matter whether your characters are having actual sex every other scene, or indulge in nothing more than a chaste kiss during the course of the story. In romance, sexual tension is the name of the game. But […]

Margie Lawson If you are an NCIS fan, you know about Jethro Gibbs’ fifty-plus rules. I want to be as cool as Jethro Gibbs. This blog features my third Margie-Rule for writers. Margie’s Rule # 3: Lock in the Emotional Set My term, Emotional Set, refers to the mood of the scene. Writers know the […]