Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 98

Science Fiction and Fantasy Can Be Any Type of Story

If I tell you that I’m writing science fiction or fantasy, I haven’t told you what type of story I’m writing. Think about it. I’ve described the general category. The same goes for historic fiction or contemporary. You still don’t know what type of story I’m talking about. A mystery can involve time travel. That … Continue reading Science Fiction and Fantasy Can Be Any Type of Story →

3 Tips to Help You Avoid Bias

Look what arrived in the mail! Author copies! This one was really tough to research. Everyone has an opinion about cancel culture. But I’m not writing based on opinion. I need to find facts and I need to avoid bias as much as possible. These tips will help you avoid bias when you have a … Continue reading 3 Tips to Help You Avoid Bias →

Five Minutes a Day: Sensory Perception

One of the best ways to pull readers into your writing is with sensory data. It doesn’t matter if you are writing fiction of nonfiction, if you are using sense perception, readers are more likely to feel like they are present. Although sometimes I include sensory information in my first draft, this is something that … Continue reading Five Minutes a Day: Sensory Perception →

Just Say YES: Taking Advantage of Opportunities

This year I am working on two things: I am trying to find an agent. I am also trying to get my work into the hands of trade publishers. I love educational publishing but this is me trying to expand my reach and my audience. What this means is that I’m taking advantage of Pitch … Continue reading Just Say YES: Taking Advantage of Opportunities →

Loving Cover Art

I love when I discover cover art on a hard cover book. I don’t mean the title and author’s name printed on the binding. And I don’t mean the dust jacket. I mean actual art work on the cover. As much as I love the dust jacket art for A Snake Falls to Earth by … Continue reading Loving Cover Art →

Weaving Your Illusion: Creating Story

Funny that I should spot this when I did. I’ve been watching a series of Youtube lectures by novelist Brandon Sanderson. One of the things that he discussed in the video I was watching yesterday, The Illusionist Writer, was that although we as writers spend our time creating illusions, we need to do it well … Continue reading Weaving Your Illusion: Creating Story →

Book Banning Close to Home

I can’t say it is pleasant to see a local school board in the news for book banning. Back on January 26, 2022, the Wentzville school board banned Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. The book hadn’t been assigned in a class but the board ruled that it would be removed from all high school libraries. … Continue reading Book Banning Close to Home →

Snow Days: Sometimes You Need to Give Yourself a Break!

This week I made quite a haul at the library. I have a habit of requesting every single book that vaguely interests me. My husband seems to think that is a problem. He should be happy they’re library books! This week I have one cozy mystery (Wonton Terror), one novel (You Belong Here Now), two … Continue reading Snow Days: Sometimes You Need to Give Yourself a Break! →

Five Minutes a Day: Refocus Before You Start Your Rewrite

I am going to restart my 5 Minutes a Day feature. It was one I enjoyed doing and is also a great way for each of us to start doing some new things with our writing. One of my goals for this month is to reoutline my middle grade science fiction novel, Airstream. Admittedly, it … Continue reading Five Minutes a Day: Refocus Before You Start Your Rewrite →

Try, Try Again: What to Do When Your Story Doesn’t Work

While I was writing yesterday’s blog post about why you need to know about inductive and deductive reasoning before you write a mystery, an idea popped into my head. It was an idea for a picture book mystery. If I played it right, it could be the first book in a STEM series. So instead … Continue reading Try, Try Again: What to Do When Your Story Doesn’t Work →