ON PACING by Melodie Johnson Howe I was zipping through my emails when I noticed an announcement for a writer’s workshop. The subject was: On Pacing. There was no subtitle. I began to wonder how one would teach pacing. First of all the instructor would need a large room so the writers could walk back […]

TIPPING THE BLARNEY by James Lincoln Warren BLARNEY. He has licked the Blarney stone; he deals in the wonderful, or tips us the traveller. The Blarney stone is a triangular stone on the very top of an ancient castle of that name in the county of Cork in Ireland, extremely difficult of access; so that […]

21 STORIES in the NAKED CITY by Leigh Lundin Sisters in Crime is an organization dedicated to promoting women mystery writers. They didn’t invent the all-female blog, but they strongly support them. This week, I draw from one of the leading edge trend-setters that has the wonderful name Women Of Mystery. That’s WomenOfMystery.net, which ends […]

DIALOGUE IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES by John M. Floyd I’ve decided to make you an offer you can’t refuse. Awhile back I mentioned that I suspect most fiction readers enjoy movies too, and that fiction writers can sometimes learn almost as much from movie dialogue as from the written word. Surely that’s true […]

Literary Taste Buds by Steven Steinbock A few weeks back, I mentioned that I’m not a fan of mushrooms, be they in omelets, salads, pizzas or anywhere else. I never have, and I don’t think I ever will. It isn’t the taste so much as the texture, along with a personal taboo that causes me […]

INSPIRED by Deborah Elliott-Upton To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything. — Anatole France An acquaintance is who neither a writer nor an avid reader asked me how I get inspired to write everyday. “I don’t always,” I answered. “But, you do write everyday, right?” “Do you go to work everyday? Are […]

ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS by Robert Lopresti Before we begin this exciting blog entry we thought you might want to know a little bit about those who made it possible. If you don’t want to, please don’t tell us. It would break our hearts. RICHARD SPARTACUS wrote eight bestselling thrillers about serial killers before the meds […]