This has happened to every reader. You find a book, the blurb looks amazing, the opening completely hooks you in and the writing is absolutely delightful. You’re glued to the page, completely invested in the characters and their troubles. You’re tearing through the pages, either that or lingering over them as though they were a great feast. This is easily a five star read, and you can’t wait to recommend it to your friends. But then you get to the end.
There’s nothing so exciting to a reader as discovering a new author, especially when that reader is also a writer. Most writers will express frustration at not being able to read the way they used to before the Muse tapped them on the shoulder, uncritically and forgiving. The problem is that we know what’s behind that screen, and it’s hard not to see the seams. But when we do find a book that flows and makes us forget that we’re also writers, that’s magic. This is how I felt when I read Amy Maroney’s The Girl from Oto, the first book…
Ask a writer if their characters are real, and they will probably say, “Define real.” Characters are real in every sense, except being flesh-and-blood. They become a writer’s constant companion even when the writer isn’t hunched over a computer screen tapping furiously away. See that faraway look in a writer’s eye when you’re talking to them? They’re probably thinking about these characters and what they’ll put them through next. So how do these characters walk into a writer’s life and become as immediate as flesh-and-blood friends? Are they constructed through a writing exercise or is there an organic method to…
I had the pleasure of getting to know E.M Powell, initially when she was one of the co-editors of the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, and continuing through our work on the HNS Social Media Team for the Historical Novelist Society. She is a bestselling author of medieval historical thrillers and has always been very generous with her time and encouragement of other writers. I first approached E.M Powell to participate in a genre discussion about how historical fiction and historical romance often co-mingle in works not typically considered romantic. The result is this wonderful guest post about understanding one’s…
When I started writing the first dirty draft of Traitor’s Knot, I was so focused on the details of the events, that I often neglected the human reaction to the drama. It’s understandable given that there is so much pressure to get the historical facts nailed. Historical fiction writers have the advantage of knowing what happened to their subjects, but sometimes that knowledge blunts the suspense. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for other genres, with perhaps the exception of memoire. Science fiction and fantasy–your imagination defines what or what doesn’t happen. Contemporary or romance, ditto. Thrillers? You guys are…
Cryssa Bazos 