Barbara Fradkin's Blog, page 42

When the End is Not Near

 I (Donis) have been fascinated by my blog mates' thoughts on ending a novel. (Sybil's fabulous information on the saggy middle is great, too) I agree that the end of a novel is easily as important as the beginning, and boy, it isn't easy to pull off a great one, at least in my experience. Every time I approach what I think is the end of a new novel, I end up having an existential crisis. I'm

Do You Have a Sagging Middle?

 by Sybil JohnsonWe’ve talked about endings of stories on this blog. How about those sagging middles? Even if a writer has a clear picture of the beginning and the end of a story, we sometimes get lost in the middle. How do we get to the end in a way that makes sense and keeps a reader’s interest?When I first started writing, I read a lot of how-to books on writing in general and mysteries in

Carteret Writers' Conference Was a Huge Success!!

 This past Saturday, I was the master of ceremony forthe first ever Quadrennial Carteret Writers Conference.  It was informational, friendly, and most ofall…fun!Our keynote speaker was Sara E. Johnson who writes thewonderful Alexa Glock mystery series that is set in New Zealand.  In addition to her lunch time talk, she gave awonderful workshop on the importance of setting.John Dedakis—

More thoughts on endings

 First of all, a note to Johnny, who recently posted his final blog. Thanks for the great job, you will be missed, and you are welcome back any time!I too like to read the other posts on the blog. They often make me think or consolidate what I am already thinking. Recent posts have been about how to end a book, and the various discussions are fascinating. I'm with Thomas on this one. If you

Those Pesky Endings

 by Sybil Johnson Endings are hard. At least they are for me. It’s the part of writing a story that I fret about the most. Thomas’ post on Monday got me thinking more about endings.Here are my thoughts on them:There are some stories that can go either way, i.e. the bad guy(s) get discovered and get their comeuppance or the bad guy(s) win and stay free. Doesn’t mean I have to like the ending as a

Swearing Well

 I'm super busy right now. Overwhelmed with work. I'm an obsessive reader and when I get in this state I turn to fast-paced mysteries and thrillers. Stopping reading is not an option. I would probably have a nervous breakdown. For the past three weeks I have been reading David Baldacci's books. He is amazingly productive and has quite an amazing personal story. His first published novel received

When the Bad Guys Win

  My wife and I have been binging on the Neflix series, Peaky Blinders and tonight we will be watching the last two episodes of the final season.  If you’re not familiar with the series, it’s a story of a gangster family, taking place right after WWI in 1919 and through tumultuous years into the 1930’s.  The name Peaky Blinders is from the gang sewing razor blades into the peaks of their hats so

It fills the hole …By Johnny D. BoggsFrank Luksa was a l...

 It fills the hole …By Johnny D. BoggsFrank Luksa was a longtime sports columnist when I joined the Dallas Times Herald staff in 1984. And I have used one of his sayings a lot over the years.It even came to mind now and then after Charlotte Hinger talked me into blogging for Type M for Murder every other week for six months. As many of you know, it’s hard to tell Charlotte NO!Well, six months

Voice

LCC Tucson 2023 - a room with a viewDonis here, back from Left Coast Crime 2023, alive and well. Last time I attended LCC, in 2018, I came home with a nasty case of the flu. Covid wasn't even on the map, so you can imagine I was leery about finally venturing out into the world again. But LCC was in Tucson this year, which is about 90 miles from my house, so I figured, what the hey. It was nice to

The importance of community

 Recent posts on Type M have explored the many aspects of being a writer. What we like about it, what we hate, why we do it (hint, it's not for the money), how and why do we research, and how we get people to read it when we're done. As I am currently at the "tearing-my-hair-out phase of a new first draft, I found myself smiling and nodding a lot as I read. Whether we "meet" virtually in the