It’s an extraordinary realism for aspiring writers: many publishers and agents often seek authors who already possess a substantial following. The search for publication can be akin to seeking that crucial first job — employers want experience, but how does one gain experience without a job? Traditionally, writers begin with shorter works, offering their skills…
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, Benjamin StevensonAll the clues needed are here, some so subtle it’s easy to pass over them, but it all ties together in the end. For me, it’s the style in which it’s all presented that made this book so engaging. I’m not usually a fan of first person…
Often a story’s need dictates setting, but think of your setting as a character as much as any of the beings that populate the story. Setting can be more than just choosing a place and time. Setting creates atmosphere and the writer can use it obviously or in contrast, or even to tell the reader…
Road of Bones, Christopher GoldenA road named because of the number of prisoners who died there forced to work by the Soviet Union, bodies left in the ice in Siberia. I’ve read Christopher Golden before but can’t remember when I enjoyed one of his books as much as this. The unusual setting is as much…
Night to Dawn magazine #44, ebook and print, features my short story, Brain Dead. Available directly from the publisher and Amazon.
Typesetter used to be an actual job. While I’m sure professionals typically handle book layout at major publishing houses, writers at mid-size and smaller publishers must now do it themselves. The days of huge mechanical machines are gone. Machines where someone had to lie out each word for printing, a job which must have been…
That is for me. Yes, I know I’ve been quiet. It’s what comes from breaking a wrist. Trust me, don’t assume a break is an easy fix. Not only did I break it, I had to go to town breaking it. Almost six months and it still isn’t right. Of course, I’ve had to do…
Sharon Bidwell 