He Said, She Said – When and How to Use Dialog Tags

I don’t want to be a complainer, but well, here goes.  I got the copy edit of my book from Lorimer.  In general it was great. Because it’s a hi/lo book they had to go through it carefully to edit for clarity, change some words to simpler things etc. Most of their changes were absolutely … More He Said, She Said – When and How to Use Dialog Tags

And You Never Forget the Lies Your English Teacher Told You

Lisa Muzaffar Kusko tells it like it is here.  The old school arbitrary “rules” of English really stick in the mind. I still find myself as I write fiction, struggling over these. Even in my MFA a professor pointed out that “He runs like he’s being chased by the devil” should be “He runs as … More And You Never Forget the Lies Your English Teacher Told You

The 10 Types of Writers Block, a.k.a. Welcome to my Nightmare

The 10 Types of Writers Block and How to Overcome Them. Charlie Jane Anders gives some excellent advice about coping with the different types of writer’s block.  It’s an interesting list to begin with, because some of the types I never face and some I always face. I’m sure it’s the same for all writers. … More The 10 Types of Writers Block, a.k.a. Welcome to my Nightmare

Random Title Generator

Thank you again, YAHighway for pointing me to this awesomely hilarious Random Title Generator. Here are a few choice titles it came up with for me: The Worlds of Nothing – clearly dystopian, possibly nihilistic sci-fi? Also slightly reminiscent of The Never-Ending Story Bare Bride – Christian erotica?  After all, a bride IS married. Blade … More Random Title Generator

Covers, titles and other things beyond my control

HC defends “sexist” jacket | The Bookseller. Poor Polly Courtney. Clearly she thought her book was a more serious one than Harper Collins Avon thought. I’ll say this for her though: she knows how to get media.  The story of her “sacking” her publishers because she objected to the jacket of her new book It’s … More Covers, titles and other things beyond my control