Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 91

Creating Problems for Your Characters in the Tech Age

More than once lately, I’ve heard someone say that in books written pre-2000, so many story problems would have been solved if only the character had a cell phone. And that’s true to a point. Apparently if you write romantic comedy, your characters can simply fail to talk to each other. But even good romantic … Continue reading Creating Problems for Your Characters in the Tech Age →

Proto-Science Fiction

In my reading this week, I came upon a term I had never heard before – proto-science fiction. Am I the only one who hadn’t heard this before? Many people think of science fiction as a product of modern science, but proto-science fiction is much earlier and may actually have led the way for modern … Continue reading Proto-Science Fiction →

Someone Familiar with a Unique Twist: Writing a Picture Book Biography

I love finding a top notch picture book biography. That’s kind of funny because I’m not a huge fan of biographies for adult readers but picture book biographies? Yes, please! The problem for writers is that they can be a hard sell. Go with someone too remote, and you may well be told that their … Continue reading Someone Familiar with a Unique Twist: Writing a Picture Book Biography →

Promoting Your Book through Writing

Many of the writers that I know loathe self-promotion. Some of them don’t like social media in general. Others just hate the idea of approaching people to buy their book. Visiting bookstores, getting a table at a craft fair, even renting a booth at a farmers market are possibilities but many writers just hate the … Continue reading Promoting Your Book through Writing →

Celebrating Earth Day Every Day

Earth Day is a big deal around here, meaning my home and office. I work at home so if it is a big deal one place, it is a big deal in the other as well. We use cloth napkins & avoid plastic utensils and straws and paper plates. We recycle and repurpose. As a … Continue reading Celebrating Earth Day Every Day →

Writing about Current Events by Taking a Step Back in Time

I just finished reading Traitors among Us by Canadian Ukrainian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch. It is set in the aftermath of World War II when two Ukrainian sisters, Krystia and Maria, are trying to reach safety in Germany so they can ultimately move to Canada where their aunt and uncle live. They are captured by … Continue reading Writing about Current Events by Taking a Step Back in Time →

Time Blocking or Pomodoro: A Productivity Technique that Helps You Focus

When I came upon Chaunie Brusie’s post on time blocking, I didn’t know that I had already used the technique under a different name. Essentially, time blocking means that you set aside blocks of time to do one task or another. Perhaps you set aside 30 minutes to blog, 30 minutes to work on a … Continue reading Time Blocking or Pomodoro: A Productivity Technique that Helps You Focus →

About the Author: What to Include in Your Biography

With every book I turn into to my editor, I have to turn in a biography. It would be really easy to go the ho-hum factual route. “Sue Bradford Edwards is a nonfiction author who writes about culture and history, including the history of ancient peoples. She is the author of 21 other titles from … Continue reading About the Author: What to Include in Your Biography →

Rewriting: You Have to Nail the Order of Operations

Whenever I had to work math problems, I loved applying the order of operations. That’s the order you have to tackle the various steps to get the correct answer. It was like doing a complex puzzle. Rewriting is much the same. It doesn’t make sense to double check your spelling and punctuation before you tackle … Continue reading Rewriting: You Have to Nail the Order of Operations →

Marketing a Manuscript that is Eerily Precient

Honestly, it just happens. I sign a contract to work on a book about someplace in the world and . . . “Tonight at 10, events in (fill in the blank).” Suddenly it is in the news. Or I’m working on a story about a topic and then see something like it on the “Publisher’s … Continue reading Marketing a Manuscript that is Eerily Precient →