Tag: Amazon

Guest post: lesson 1 by David Kummer

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Welcome to this lesson of David Kummer’s writing course. That’s me, by the way. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, success stories, or just something fun to say, email me at davidkummer7@gmail.com. I’d love to talk about anything and everything, especially if that everything has to do with books, basketball, or Chinese food. I am a teenager, after all. So that’s that! Head on down and read what might be the best writing course of your life, but also might be the worst 😉 You won’t know until you try!

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SWAPPING GENRES by Andrew Richardson

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I approached writing ‘The Door into War’ with some trepidation. On one hand, it
was a story I wanted to write with a plot I was pleased with. On the other hand, my
previous novels have all been firmly squarely horror or historical fantasy genres. Writing
a time travel thriller was a complete change for me, especially as my reading knowledge
of time travel and thrillers is limited, and as a writer is zero.
Putting together ‘The Door into War’ led me to wondering, what are the benefits
to a writer of switching genres? And what are the drawbacks?
In my case, having written a lot of horror where tension is key I have at least
some experience of maintaining suspense. I’ve also got a background in archaeology so I
made my main character an archaeologist, and made archaeology an important part of the
story which gave me something familiar to work around. I write occasional erotic shorts,
which I found a help with the need to show characters’ emotions and reactions to each
other.
It was also a refreshing challenge to try something completely different, and I
hope this enjoyment comes over in the novel.
Because I didn’t know the thriller genre I suppose there’s a possibility that in my
naivety I might have brought something new to it – but that’s probably wishful thinking!
But, genre-swapping isn’t all plain sailing. I’m pretty sure I’ll have made some
genre-specific mistakes, and I probably missed some things that thriller readers will
expect, or misjudged the pacing and similar.
When writing historical fantasy or horror I usually have an idea of whether or not
what I’m doing is any good – or at least whether it’s good above the line enough to be
picked up by a publisher. I didn’t have that same feel for ‘The Door into War.’ In fact, as

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Living Dangerously: get closer to crime-thriller author Frank Westworth

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Living Dangerously: get closer to crime-thriller author Frank Westworth

 

While readers get to grips with his new collection of quick thrillers, author Frank Westworth pauses in between projects to chat about what he writes, and why. And what he reads, and where his characters come from, and which kinds of Kevlar can actually stop bullets…

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

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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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Where Do Ideas and Inspirations Come from for Mysteries? by Heather Weidner

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Thank you so much for letting me visit today. I write mystery novels and short stories. And I’m often asked about where my ideas come from.

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What’s a Writer of Thrillers to do When Reality Outstrips Fiction? by Brian Greiner

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What’s a writer of thrillers to do when reality outstrips fiction?
by Brian Greiner

The great fun in writing thrillers is playing with fascinating
technologies and concepts. The problem with thrillers is that eventually,
reality renders all that great tech obsolete—sometimes laughably so. So
how can a writer deal with the inevitable obsolescence of their
carefully-crafted worlds? One way is to simply ignore the problem and
treat the novel as something with a limited shelf life. The other way is
to focus on larger issues, with the technology simply serving as an
exemplar to highlight those issues.

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The Librarian Author by Debbie DeLouise

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It’s my pleasure to participate in Mystery Thriller Week by sharing a post about myself, my books, and my feelings about writing and publishing. 

debbiehicksvillenews

As a librarian, reader, and author, books and the written word have been very important in my life. I can’t imagine a world without them. Writing transports people to places they’ve never visited within as well as outside of themselves. It entertains, teaches, amuses, and sometimes saddens. The saying “The pen is mightier than the sword” is true. Even before paper was invented or languages defined, storytellers played an important role in communities. They still do despite the fact there are so many forms of communication today. A good story has value whether it is read off a screen, through the pages of an “old-fashioned” book, or listened to on audio CD’s or digital files. 

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Keeping My Sanity While Launching a Thriller Series by Martha Carr

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A little background about me, first to put all of the past few months into perspective. I’ve been a professional writer in some capacity since 1990. First as a journalist, then an author traditionally published with an agent, then a nationally syndicated columnist and now an indie author. There was a brief stint where I tried blogging but quickly left that to others to conquer.

I’m like a human timeline for the modern evolution of a career as a writer.

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Why the beep do people like Horror? By a Horror Writer

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What is something you hate? What is something you love?The thing about opinions is that somebody always disagrees with you. There is somebody that loves what you hate and hates what you love.

What does this have to do with the Horror genre? You might have guessed by now. If you hate it, there’s somebody that likes it. If you like it, there’s somebody that absolutely despises it.

So, now that we’ve got that off the table, let’s talk about why some people actually like Horror. There are many misconceptions about the genre, and I’ll do my best to dispel those.
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Meet ‘Big Mo’ Dolan by Nick Rippington

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INTERVIEW WITH MAURICE ‘BIG MO’ DOLAN:

PROTAGONIST OF NICK RIPPINGTON’S NEW NOVEL – WORKING TITLE: HEADERS

 

Hi. I’m Paul Melluish, crime writer with London’s Evening Guardian. Currently I’m putting a book together about the most dangerous criminals of the 70s and 80s and was granted exclusive access to Maurice ‘Big Mo’ Dolan, renowned sub-Post Office robber currently incarcerated in London’s Belmarsh Prison. Here is the transcript of our conversation…

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