Small Town Mysteries. Big Time Suspense.
The ocean breeze blew my hair across my sunglasses as I sat at the table on the porch of the beach restaurant. The fragrance of grilling shrimp and garlic stoked my hunger after a morning of swimming. “Glad you made it, Hailey,” said my younger sister Emma, flipping back her long, chocolate brown hair. “You… Continue Reading →
This month I am focusing on how to maximize the senses in your writing. So my Monday sparks will have pictures to encourage you to describe a scene using all five senses. Whether you have directly experienced a setting, or imaging a character in one, it helps to make a list of what your character… Continue Reading →
Disguising the villain in a mystery is the toughest task when writing a story in that genre. Planting clues and red herrings effectively is hard too, but if I don’t correctly handle disguising the villain in a traditional whodunit, I’ve ruined the whole story. Do’s and Don’ts for Disguising the Villain Don’t have a very… Continue Reading →
It’s hard for authors to evaluate their own stories. One thing I have trouble with is judging whether I’m describing a setting well enough. I want to write about my settings vividly enough for readers to think they are in the scene with the characters. Writing the settings in my latest novel was no different…. Continue Reading →
YA author M. Liz Boyle is back with “Characters You Meet Along the Way” as we dive into the fascinating process of creating characters for our stories. You can read her other guest blogs here. Thanks for coming back, Liz! “It’s not where you go. It’s who you meet along the way.” Dorothy is credited… Continue Reading →
JPC Allen Writes