I Have this Great Idea By Catherine Dilts

 

You introduce yourself as an author. Maybe mention a writing credit or two.

“The third book in my series is being released next week,” you say.

Instead of asking where they can purchase your novel, your new acquaintance hits you with an all-too-familiar line.

“I have this great idea for a book.”

Admit it. You’ve been on the receiving end of this conversation, or perhaps you’ve been the person delivering the germ of an idea destined to become a NYT bestselling novel. Whichever role you played, the end result was Awkward.

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Historical Division: Marie Silk on Historical Fiction Writing: Life in America 100 Years Ago

Someone recently asked me, “What is ‘historical fiction’?”  I never realized it was a confusing phrase until I really thought about it and concluded that it sounds like an oxymoron.  Here, I will do my best to explain historical fiction and the process that goes into writing it.

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Q&A with Lis Wiehl Author of The Candidate

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Introducing the Newsmakers Series

 

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Writer’s Craft: Managing Tension With Peaks and Troughs by Rayne Hall

Tension is good. It makes the reader turn the pages. However,  constant high tension soon gets dull. The readers can’t sustain continuous scared excitement, and after a while, instead of roused, they become bored.

It’s like the waves on a stormy sea: the peaks are only high because of the troughs between them. If there were only continuous peaks without any troughs, the sea would be flat.

Your job as writer is to create not just the peaks, but the troughs which make the peaks look high.

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Interview with Audiobook Narrator Jayne Entwistle

 

 

 

 

 

Jayne is a voice over artist, actress, avid improviser, and narrator of audiobooks for Random House winning awards for her work on the popular Flavia De Luce series. She gives life to one of my favorite sleuths! Good ol’ Flavia.

 

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Historical Division: How I learned to love reading mysteries  by Sally Allen

The first mysteries I fell in love with were Agatha Christie’s novels. I was in middle school and had recently been upgraded to my brother’s old room. Among the items he had left behind were a substantial collection of worn paperbacks. I spent hours lying on the plush navy carpet devouring The A.B.C. Murders, And Then There Were None, and Murder on the Orient Express, among others.

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Interview with Melinda Leigh by Benjamin Thomas

 

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Melinda Leigh is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author with numerous awards. She is several series available; including Morgan Dane, Scarlet Falls, She Can Series and Midnight series. For a full book review of Midnight Obession click here to view it on The Writing Train.

Morgan Dane  | Scarlet Falls | She Can  | Midnight  

 

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Historical Division: How Mysteries have Changed Over the years by Zaheera Walker

From as early as the Charles Dickens of the 19th Century to the modern day Jeffrey Archer, mystery writers are swimming well in the mainstream.

Today these writers can choose any direction they please because the market is increasing. No matter which era you find yourself in it is clearly evident that people love the roller coaster thrill of mysteries. It is a safe adventure that allows them to visit exotic or interesting places. They get to experience the dark side of some characters but they take comfort in knowing that justice prevails in the end. The Agatha Christie, Ruth Rendell, Dan Brown, James Patterson, Stephen King and Jodi Picoult (my favourite mystery authors) allow us to relate to their characters. Through their expertly woven words, the reader is given a platform to play amateur detective and be part of the solution. Cool hey? This puts them on the winning team that captures the bad guys and helps to right the wrongs. Now who doesn’t want to be part of that team?

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Interview with Rebecca Cantrell & The Joe Tesla Thrillers

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Welcome Rebecca!

 

Rebecca Cantrell’s Hannah Vogel mystery/thriller novels have won the Bruce Alexander and Macavity awards and been nominated for the Barry and RT Reviewers Choice awards; her critically-acclaimed cell phone novel, iDrakula, was nominated for the APPY award and listed on Booklist’s Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth. She and her husband and son just left Hawaii’s sunny shores for adventures in Berlin. Find Rebecca Cantrell on Facebook, Twitter, and at www.rebeccacantrell.com.

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Talking Mystery & History with Author Ritter Ames

WELCOME BACK TO THE FORENSIC LENSES SERIES

 

 

An investigative and exploratory approach into the minds of voracious readers everywhere. Strap your seat belt and let’s take a ride into the wonderful world of mystery…

 

 

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