Barbara Fradkin's Blog, page 12

Ha Ha Ha

 A writer can create drama and suspense since the writer is in charge of what the reader knows and when it's available in the story. As long as the writer plays fair with the reader, ie doesn't introduce the guilty character late in the story or flash a new clue that solves everything that only the protag knew about all along. Readers enjoy a fair surprise.Humor seems impossible. It doesn't

Reflections on Point of View and Tense

 In my last post, I shared a few thoughts on guidelines for writing a short story. As I am not good at following orders, or rules, I have broken all those guidelines at one time or another, but nonetheless, they can at least help as a self-editing tool if the story you are writing doesn't work.I have just completed the first draft of my latest short story. Not having written a short story in

LCC Lessons Learned from Readers

by Catherine DiltsIn March, I attended Left Coast Crime in Denver, where Ipicked up new ideas and information on the business of writing. Coincidentally, Thomas Kies just posted on Type M for Murder about small versus large conferences. I'm here to discuss what I learned at a reader oriented conference.  The Left Coast Crime conference has an emphasis on readersand fans. Authors

Big Conference vs. Small Conference

 By Thomas KiesI confess, I’m signed up to go to Bouchercon in New Orleans inSeptember.  After attending the one inSan Diego two years ago, and then again in Nashville last year, I was reluctantto commit to going to another.  It’s notthat they don’t do a good job.  They workhard at making Bouchercon a good experience for everyone involved.That’s part of the problem,

Tariffied: Impacts on Publishing, Writing, & Creativity

Hello, Type M Readers & Writers:Shelley here reporting from an island in the Philippine Sea and feeling very weirded-out by everything going on over there on the mainland. Guam is a far-away outpost of the USA. My husband works for the Department of the Navy. We've been on island since January, trying to get our bearings. It would have been difficult in normal circumstances. Now I don't

Shorter

 I (Donis) am doing rewrites on a new book. The first draft came in at 108,000 words, mainly because this is a whole new setting and cast of characters for me, and I spent a lot of time wandering around and getting to know them. So that's done. Now I have to get the MS down to a manageable size, and believe me, it is not proving to be an easy task. I do love my own voice.If you want to keep

Another Anthology Event

 by Sybil JohnsonI spent last Saturday afternoon at The Last Bookstore in Studio City for a Sisters in Crime/L.A. anthology event. As you may remember, I talked about the previous event for Angel City Beat that was held in Vroman’s in Pasadena. I’m very happy to be part of this anthology and have really enjoyed these events. They were both a little different. At Vroman’s we each read from

Vanishing Book Reviews

by Charlotte HingerThe mother of all book reviews is the New York Times. The lucky author whose book is reviewed by this prestigious publication will see sales leap. We should all be this fortunate. The other "best" places to be reviewed are Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, Library Journal, and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews gives a prize of $50,000 to the best fiction book, the best non-fiction,

What I'm reading

 by Steve Pease/Michael Chandos     I have a Really bad habit of reading in bed before submitting to the seduction of sleep. I like the quiet focus of night to dive deeply into a short story or novel. Why is it a bad habit?     I have a nice recliner with a standing lamp on a swing arm to customize the light on whatever I'm reading, a light blanket for my legs (

My short take on the short story

 Once again, I have been very remiss with my posts on Type M. There is so much rapid-fire news and chaos in Canada, the US, and the world that I am continuously distracted. And when I can tear myself away from that, there's always taxes to complete.But in moments between these distractions, I have two short stories to write. Although earlier in my career, I have written over thirty short