by Jami Gold If you’ve heard of beat sheets before, you might have heard about complicated forms or spreadsheets. I don’t know about you, but I don’t do math. Heck, I write my stories by the seat of my pants, so something that forces me to draft in a regimented way doesn’t appeal to me […]

By Chuck Sambuchino How does a literary agent define their “ideal client”? The question is extremely important because it’s one that factors into an agent’s mindset before and after they sign you. If an agent has read your complete novel or book proposal and wants to sign you, the next step is almost always to […]

by Fae Rowen This post isn't just for romance writers. As a genre fiction writer you know that to be drawn into your story, your readers have to care about your characters. This is true of all genres-women's fiction, historical, mystery, thriller, science fiction and all the rest, including the new "hybrid genres." As authors, we […]

By Shannon Donnelly Great dialogue can make or break a novel. This view may stem from growing up watching a lot of 1930’s screwball comedies. Zingers fly with rapid fire and everyone talks. A lot. But the importance of dialogue really sank in when I wrote A Proper Mistress. I went for a lot of dialogue […]

By Laura Drake I don’t know about you, but I can’t write a book without secondary characters. Yes, I’ve read books without them (or ones where they had tiny roles), but I can’t write that way. I mean, where would The Lion King be without the hyenas? Where would Westley be without Fezzik? (or Billy […]