Exploring the Third Rail

Exploring the Third Rail

I was preparing for a talk I’m going to be giving this weekend to the Maryland Romance Writers when I was reminded of Lisa Cron’s concept of the Third Rail. This is an easy way to think about Story, Plot, Character development, and GMC all wrapped up into one very...
Free Will

Free Will

You’ve got a book to write. A story to tell. There’s something you want to say or an event or series of events you want to share. You’ve got a plot in your mind and you’ve got a really good idea or perhaps the entire thing planned out either on paper or in your mind...
Something unusual to consider

Something unusual to consider

I’m not much of a gamer. I play a few stupid little puzzle games and card games on my phone. Every once in a while, I’ll play a mystery game where you have to solve puzzles to solve a simple mystery. And… that’s about it. My kids,...
The power of sentence length

The power of sentence length

  Here’s a question you might not see often: How long are your sentences? Do you write really long, descriptive sentences that give your reader a lot of information so they know just where they are, what your character is doing and how they’re feeling? Or are...
The importance of knowing the basics

The importance of knowing the basics

Grammar is absolutely my least favorite thing about being a writer… and yet, I’m also an editor. Go figure that one out! Actually, if you were to ask a bunch of editors whether they enjoyed grammar I’d guess that at least half would say no. Grammar just isn’t...
Missing Chekov’s Gun

Missing Chekov’s Gun

Last week in the discussion on the Writers’ Block Party Podcast with Kathy Seidel on the motifs and themes used in my book A Token of Love and Pru Warren’s book Ellen and the Would-Be Gigolo, there was one important concept that we briefly discussed—Chekov’s Gun. Pru...