by mike | Feb 27, 2017 | Books, Editing, Life, Read & Critique, Uncategorized, Writers' Conferences, Writers' Retreat, Writing |
What does former National Basketball Association great Bill Russell have to do with leading classes and workshops about writing novels? I’ll tell you…shortly. But, first things first. MY STUDENTS NEVER KNEW I began facilitating novel-writing workshops in the early...
by mike | Feb 23, 2017 | Adventure fantasy, Books, Editing, Horror, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
Thus ends my three-part series, first presented in 2013, on how writers can engage their readers at the start of their novels. Okay, one more post on how writers engage their readers with a strong opening hook, and then I’ll get back to other important matters, such...
by mike | Feb 16, 2017 | Books, Editing, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing |
In Part One of this series I wrote about how important—how necessary—it is for writers to engage their readers immediately with an element of the story called the narrative hook. Both literary agents and, ultimately, readers want to get into your story quickly, or you...
by mike | Feb 13, 2017 | Adventure fantasy, Books, Fantasy, Guest Posts, Non-Fiction, Publishing, Read & Critique, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing |
Author David Lemmo and I go way back to the early nineties, when he became one of the first writers to join a read & critique workshop that I facilitated in my home. David enjoyed reading—and writing—the same genres as I did and, given both his writing abilities...
by mike | Feb 9, 2017 | Books, Editing, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writers' Conferences, Writing |
This is the first of three posts from 2013 on how writers can engage—or “hook”—their readers from the first page of their novels. A novel is made up of quite a few elements, among them characterization, dialogue, point of view, setting, and so on. But in my mind, the...
by mike | Feb 6, 2017 | Books, Films About Books, Horror, Horror Movies, Movies, Psychological Thrillers, Thrillers, Uncategorized |
When William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, proclaims, “I’ve never seen a more terrifying film,” you have to take notice. He was referring to the 2014 Australian psychological horror film, The Babadook, and I cannot disagree with his assessment. This one is...
