Ellis Vidler's Blog, page 15
June 11, 2012
Bad Reviews: Leaving and Receiving
At Amazon
Marla Madison, author of the suspense novel She's Not There, is my guest.
My recent blog on reviewing received nasty
feedback, one comment so bad that Blogspot censored it without printing. Since
then, I’ve kept my blogs as non-controversial as possible. I’ve bravely decided
to revisit the issue in question—bad reviews.
As a writer who’s been on the receiving end of a
bad review
Marla Madison, author of the suspense novel She's Not There, is my guest.
My recent blog on reviewing received nasty
feedback, one comment so bad that Blogspot censored it without printing. Since
then, I’ve kept my blogs as non-controversial as possible. I’ve bravely decided
to revisit the issue in question—bad reviews.
As a writer who’s been on the receiving end of a
bad review
June 8, 2012
3 Approaches, 1 Subject: Toussaint. Iyer. Staggs.
Salvatore
Vuono, http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
I asked three excellent but very different authors to write a description of this picture. It's fascinating what they saw in the same face. Read them and enjoy the different styles. I think they're terrific.
TOUSSAINT
Riker
ducked under the tiki hut overhang. “Barkeep. A beer.”
He
slumped into a wobbly chair and took a drag on his cig,
Vuono, http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
I asked three excellent but very different authors to write a description of this picture. It's fascinating what they saw in the same face. Read them and enjoy the different styles. I think they're terrific.
TOUSSAINT
Riker
ducked under the tiki hut overhang. “Barkeep. A beer.”
He
slumped into a wobbly chair and took a drag on his cig,
June 4, 2012
Learning to write and bike. Not so different
Buy Print or eBook
This week I'm delighted to
welcome debut author Donna Galanti as my guest. Her first mystery, A Human Element, was recently released in print and
eBook.
I’ve always
loved bike riding. And been a daredevil at it. In the words of Goose and
Maverick “I feel the need–the need for speed!” (That applies to skiing too, but
speed there ended up in cartwheeling down the mountain
This week I'm delighted to
welcome debut author Donna Galanti as my guest. Her first mystery, A Human Element, was recently released in print and
eBook.
I’ve always
loved bike riding. And been a daredevil at it. In the words of Goose and
Maverick “I feel the need–the need for speed!” (That applies to skiing too, but
speed there ended up in cartwheeling down the mountain
June 2, 2012
East Berlin, Imagination in Overdrive
Allied Checkpoint Charlie, 1988
In 1989, the
Berlin Wall came down, bringing much with it. Certainly not the most important,
but still significant to readers was the virtual loss of Cold War spy
thrillers, my favorite genre at the time. I was fortunate enough to travel to Germany the year before and spend a short time
in East Berlin. We cried at the wall, marked in places by plain white
In 1989, the
Berlin Wall came down, bringing much with it. Certainly not the most important,
but still significant to readers was the virtual loss of Cold War spy
thrillers, my favorite genre at the time. I was fortunate enough to travel to Germany the year before and spend a short time
in East Berlin. We cried at the wall, marked in places by plain white
May 29, 2012
Pleasures & Pitfalls of Writing ‘Where’ You Know
Amazon, Kindle or print
Author Linda Lovely, who writes the Marley Clark mysteries, is my guest this week.
It’s fun to write a novel that showcases a place
you know and love (I suppose it would also be true for a place you love to hate)—a
setting you’ve felt as well as seen, a location that sparks passion you can
capture on the page.
Yet there are pitfalls in setting a novel in a real
Author Linda Lovely, who writes the Marley Clark mysteries, is my guest this week.
It’s fun to write a novel that showcases a place
you know and love (I suppose it would also be true for a place you love to hate)—a
setting you’ve felt as well as seen, a location that sparks passion you can
capture on the page.
Yet there are pitfalls in setting a novel in a real
May 26, 2012
Why Do Some Stories Resonate?
Yesterday I saw
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and
loved it—so much that I want to see it again. I woke up thinking about it. Why
do some stories touch us so much that we keep thinking about them? Why do the
characters come back to visit our dreams many times?
Maybe part of
it is the way each character’s story resolves itself—not necessarily happily
but in a just and satisfying way.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and
loved it—so much that I want to see it again. I woke up thinking about it. Why
do some stories touch us so much that we keep thinking about them? Why do the
characters come back to visit our dreams many times?
Maybe part of
it is the way each character’s story resolves itself—not necessarily happily
but in a just and satisfying way.
May 21, 2012
That Moment Called Murder
Buy at Amazon or Kindle
Mystery author Faye Tollison is my guest today. Faye is the author of To Tell the Truth and the soon-to-be-released The Bible Murder.
There are many ways
to lay out your murder, but I have two that I particularly like to use. They
work for me; and as writers, we do tend to like what works.
If you have a murder
scene that moves quickly, it would best serve that
Mystery author Faye Tollison is my guest today. Faye is the author of To Tell the Truth and the soon-to-be-released The Bible Murder.
There are many ways
to lay out your murder, but I have two that I particularly like to use. They
work for me; and as writers, we do tend to like what works.
If you have a murder
scene that moves quickly, it would best serve that
May 18, 2012
Writing with a Partner
Jim Christopher
This is a re-post of one of my first blogs, but several people have asked about writing with a partner, so here it is again.
Have you ever
considered writing with a friend? Or even someone you respect but don’t know
well? I did, and it turned out to be a great experience,
but it doesn’t always have a happy ending. We’re all egotists in some way and
used to having total
This is a re-post of one of my first blogs, but several people have asked about writing with a partner, so here it is again.
Have you ever
considered writing with a friend? Or even someone you respect but don’t know
well? I did, and it turned out to be a great experience,
but it doesn’t always have a happy ending. We’re all egotists in some way and
used to having total
May 14, 2012
The Mystery Writers
At Amazon
My guest this week is Jean Henry Mead, author of the Logan and Cafferty mysteries, The Mystery Writers, and others.
There were no
self-help books available for writing novels back in the dark ages (before
computers), but I was only nine and my classmates seemed to like what I took to
class for them to read. Years later I signed up for a Famous Writers Fiction
course, although I
My guest this week is Jean Henry Mead, author of the Logan and Cafferty mysteries, The Mystery Writers, and others.
There were no
self-help books available for writing novels back in the dark ages (before
computers), but I was only nine and my classmates seemed to like what I took to
class for them to read. Years later I signed up for a Famous Writers Fiction
course, although I
May 12, 2012
A Lonely Egg and a Conundrum
The Lonely Egg, first shot
Recently I've
seen a Carolina
wren bringing bits of grass and twigs to my bathroom window sill, but there's
no real nest, just a small pile of brush. They often build false nests to
distract predators, and I thought this might be one.
Then yesterday
I looked out and saw this single egg. I looked it up and it appears to be the
egg of a house wren, not a Carolina
Recently I've
seen a Carolina
wren bringing bits of grass and twigs to my bathroom window sill, but there's
no real nest, just a small pile of brush. They often build false nests to
distract predators, and I thought this might be one.
Then yesterday
I looked out and saw this single egg. I looked it up and it appears to be the
egg of a house wren, not a Carolina
