Writing Tricks
Use of Internet in Research
This is my attempt to make some content happen, since I’m working like a crazy person this weekend. The trick to making the setting and scene realistic lies in adding just the right amount of detail. The internet is very helpful here, because it offers a wide variety of images. You can find the right [...]
On Writing, Revising As You Go
J. asks: “Do you revise as you write or after? How much revision do you do?” I usually do sentence level revision as I write, because I don’t always hit the right word. The Casino smelled of undeath. During tech, the Casino still smelled of undeath. During tech, the Casino stank of vampires. Even in [...]
Talking about Research
Today I’m at Odd shots talking about research. Funny – recently I received an email that very seriously explained to me that our myths, as portrayed in the books, deviate from canon. The author was very concerned that we didn’t get things quite right. The books are works of fiction, hee. We use myths as [...]
MFA
T. writes: I love the Kate Daniel series, and I’m looking forward to your next book. I know you get this a lot, but I thought I’d take a shot at writing you some fan mail and ask for a little writing advice. I’ll try my best to keep my foot as far from my [...]
What makes a bestseller?
K writes: I’ve been querying for 14 months now … I think I should add more sex so it [manuscript] sells. Short answer: Oy. Long answer: Randomly sticking sex scenes into your manuscript is not a good idea. Sex of itself is a pleasurable physical act, but we are emotion junkies. We need the build [...]
Don’t do that
R. writes: I saw a manuscript being shoved (eh, maybe that’s not the right word, but still) into the authors hands and asked if they wouldn’t mind taking a look. Given the authors classy & graceful response to the inquiry, I gathered that this wasn’t an uncommon request, but I couldn’t help feeling appalled. Does [...]
