Jennifer Malin's Blog, page 8

Breaking Through the Block

Yes, I'm talking about writer's block. Like many authors, I suffered a multi-year bout of block that felt like it would never end. Then it did, and I'm here to tell you how. I'll skip the stuff that caused me to fall off the horse. (You can fill in...



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Achieving Nerdvana

So excited to have As You Wish featured in "More Writers You Might Like" on Nerdist.com, along with books from several other authors in sub-genres ranging from paranormal to how-to to … mostly paranormal. : ) Much thanks to the lovely...



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Well-Wishers

Ever tossed a coin in a well and made a wish (the way my character Leah does — accidentally — in As You Wish? The custom originates in pagan beliefs about appeasing water deities. That's why achaeologists often find hordes of treasures on...



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To Always Have Paris …

A good friend of mine quit her job last week and is renting an apartment in a French city for the whole month of July. In the mornings, she'll take language lessons. Afternoons, she'll sit around in a cafe writing fiction. C'est si bon!...



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The Die Is Cast

Do you ever notice a motif running through your life? A few years ago, Hubby had to work a trade show in Las Vegas. Around the same time, we saw the remake of Casino Royale, set partly in Monte Carlo. And I read George Eliot's book, Daniel Deronda. Now,...



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What's in a Name?

For a long time, I've had this idea that maybe coming up with a really great title for a book could make it a bestseller. Or maybe coming up with a really great title could even somehow prime a great book out of an author. Almost like a magic spell. I've...



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The Great Belzoni

Circus strongman cum archaeologist, 6′ 7″ tall Giovanni Battista Belzoni exhibited an Egyptian tomb re-creation in Piccadilly Circus in London in 1820 and 1821. (This is the exhibit that Mellie, Miles and Ben visit in Lord St. Leger's...



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Bargain on the Bay

Hubby and I have been in San Diego a few days. Unfortunately, neither of us have time to dig around the city — he's working a trade show and I'm trying to wrap up the new book — so I can't make many recommendations, but I do...



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Connecting with Ancient Rome

My first successful book (in that it won the Golden Heart in my pre-pubbed days), Lord St. Leger's Find, had its seeds in a setting. The heroine, Melpomene Lowery, lives on an estate in England with the ruins of a Roman villa on the grounds. The...



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These Are a Few of My Favorite Scenes

Sometimes an idea for a single scene can grow into a whole book. That was definitely the case with For the Love of Lila, where the big scene, for me at least, is the parlor game that pretty much dissolves into an orgy. In The Artful Miss Irvine, there's a...



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