Tag Archives: advice

A small act of kindness

Posted on March 6, 2011 by

Well, I had quite the Sisyphean ordeal yesterday. The Ottawa area had a heavy rain warning, and with the ground completely frozen, the 40 mm or so of rain that fell during the day began to make its way into … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Five tips to improve your Debut Dagger entry

Posted on November 27, 2010 by

I see on Absolute Write that some aspiring authors are hoping to follow in the steps of Alan Bradley and Louise Penny by submitting an entry to the CWA Debut Dagger this year.  If you are short-listed, it won’t guarantee … Continue reading →

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Teasing out backstory

Posted on October 26, 2010 by

Some writers work out an entire backstory for their characters before they even start writing. (They usually develop plot outlines, too, and have the amazing capacity to write a book in one or two drafts, since they’ve spent so much time … Continue reading →

Posted in Backstory, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Prologues – are they ever a good idea?

Posted on October 21, 2010 by

There seems to be a fair amount of controversy over whether a writer should have a prologue in a book or not. Some think that if the information in a book is important enough to bother including,  it should be in … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Prologues, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Basic Querying – Ten Tips

Posted on October 14, 2010 by

I realized, as a result of some of the comments made to this blog (and as a regular contributor to various threads in Absolute Write Water Cooler) that a lot of aspiring authors don’t actually know why they need an agent, how … Continue reading →

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When you over-use certain words

Posted on September 27, 2010 by

I just finished reading a book by a terrific Scottish author. She’s someone I have met and like a lot. I really enjoyed her book, which is great, because there’s nothing more awkward than reading the work of someone you … Continue reading →

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Dealing with rejection, Part II

Posted on September 23, 2010 by

“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” –Marilyn Vos Savant

Posted in Dealing with rejection, Editors, Getting Published, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Crafting Dialogue that Works

Posted on September 21, 2010 by

The one thing that agent after agent told me about my manuscript during the submissions process was that my dialogue was great: it was strong,  it worked, and it was completely believable. (It was the rest of it they didn’t like … Continue reading →

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