Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 34

A Letter From My Character

Recently I read an article about how to find out in-depth things about your character. The prompts included things like “spy on your character. What does she do when no one is looking?” I guess I see what the author was getting at but spying on people just doesn’t do it for me. Even in … Continue reading A Letter From My Character →

Pulling Readers In With Sensory Perception

Whatever you write, you need to find a way to make it accessible to your reader. One way to do this is through sensory detail. I can already tell that I’m going to love working my way through this book. Every other page has an exercise, a writing prompt, or some other way to dig … Continue reading Pulling Readers In With Sensory Perception →

What Every Publisher Wants Is a Little Different

Whenever I start working for a new publisher, I have to pick through the specifications very carefully. It doesn’t matter if what you are doing for both is a middle grade biography. Something is going to be different and it may well be something big. For my current project, they just decided that the series … Continue reading What Every Publisher Wants Is a Little Different →

Rainbow Book Month

June is Rainbow Book Month.™ Sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), this is a nationwide celebration of the authors and writings that reflect the lives and experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, genderqueer, queer, intersex, agender, and asexual community. It was originally established in the early 1990s by The Publishing Triangle as … Continue reading Rainbow Book Month →

Motivate Yourself

Recently a fellow writer asked a group of us how we keep ourselves motivated while querying. Basically, she wanted to know how to maintain the drive to keep querying when finding an agent might take years. Sure, she knows that she should get to work on her next novel. After all, that might be the … Continue reading Motivate Yourself →

June is Audiobook Appreciation Month

Did you know that June is audiobook appreciation month? I know that not everyone loves this art form, but it really is an art. Whether it is full cast audio (each character voiced by a different actor) or a single reader, it takes skill. One of the great things about an audiobook is that it … Continue reading June is Audiobook Appreciation Month →

Rounding Out Your Knowledge

Today is Juneteenth. Maybe that’s what pushed Into the Depths forward in my social media feeds. Or maybe it was simply the fact that someone decided to make sure people found out about it since today is Juneteenth. Regardless, finding one podcast led me to look for more. The reason why is simple. Far too … Continue reading Rounding Out Your Knowledge →

Don’t Panic: Tell Your Editor When You Make a Mistake

Last week while I was photographing sources for my editor (read the post here), I found something that made my heart sink. Not only had I spelled an author’s name wrong in the footnotes, I had spelled it wrong when I quoted him in the book. The book was moving toward layout, so I knew … Continue reading Don’t Panic: Tell Your Editor When You Make a Mistake →

Luck or Hard Work?

I was in the midst of doing something else yesterday when I spotted the above quote by Helen Hanson. It immediately reminded me of a letter from the editor I recently read from C. Hope Clarke. She is the author of something like 19 books in three series and the editor of the Funds for … Continue reading Luck or Hard Work? →

Interview with Angela Yarber

We have a special treat today. Angela Yarber, author of Queering the American Dream, has dropped in for an interview. I’m going to relinquish the floor to her because she has so much wonderful information to share. SueBE:  You have written a complex, compelling narrative.  How would you introduce it to writers who primarily write for … Continue reading Interview with Angela Yarber →