When Tragedy Strikes…

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by Shirley E. Gould My amazing husband passed away suddenly on May 7, 2013. My life has taken a devastating turn that has sapped my writing creativity. It’s hard to string words together when you’re telling yourself to breathe in and out, when your heart is broken, and everywhere you turn reminders of his absence overwhelm your emotions. After two …

Letting Your Protagonist Be Super and Human

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by Rachel Hauck Did you see the movie, “The Avengers”? Did you like it? I did last year and wow! Another blow-’em-up New York City movie. I think Hollywood needs to get more creative, but hey, that’s me. Poor NYC if anything ever happens to them as depicted in movies! Back to “The Avengers”. Besides Ironman, Thor, Hulk and Captain …

Lessons From Sherlock

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by Tessa Afshar The British love their Sherlock Holmes. They love him so much that they have built a flat on Baker Street that supposedly once belonged to this fictional character. So it’s not such a shock that they would come up with another Sherlock Holmes television production. Personally, I can’t get enough of it. There are several reasons for …

Creating Careers for our Characters

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by Lisa Jordan Last week I requested career options for the hero in my next book on my Facebook author page. While reading through my fans’ posts, I was amazed by the diverse occupations they suggested-boat builder, hospital administrator, youth pastor, zoo manager, etc. Meeting someone for the first time, one of the first questions you may ask is, “What …

Pinkerton Agents, Inventions, and the Charming Villain: Three Essential Ingredients of a Good Bad Guy

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By Kathleen Y’Barbo Will Tucker is a handsome fellow with enough charm and drop-dead good looks to gain more than one wealthy fiancé. And he does. Not exactly hero material, is he? That’s because Will Tucker, the subject of my new Southern-with-a-dash-of-Steampunk historical series The Secret Lives of Will Tucker is not the hero. He’s the villain. Writing a series …