Riley Banks's Blog, page 22

Is Shaw the new king of horror?

Interview: Robert Shaw, Writer and Classic Horror Fan   By Mark Combs   Robert Shaw has worked in film and television in Australia, England and the US.  He has been involved in such films as Angel Heart, Homeboy, The Blob, A Chorus of Disapproval, Jack’s Back and many others. He was also involved in the development and packaging of Jericho, written […]
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Be a Reviewer for The Writers’ Shack

Get published with Fire and Ice YA

Query Letter Pet Peeves – Agents Speak | Writers In The Storm Blog

How to get published at Glass House Press

How to get published with Top That! Publishing

How to get published at Moonshine Cove

Blogging and the Law: 5 Issues You Need To Know

Some of you may not know this but our Gypsy Girl correspondent, Jessica Meddows, used to be a lawyer. In addition to the travel tales she writes for us, she blogs about writing and the law at the Litreactor - an interactive, online community for writers.   Her latest post is about blogging and the legal […]
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Query Letter Pet Peeves – Agents Speak | Writers In The Storm Blog

The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media: Twitter part 1

Everybody’s doing it: 5 simple tips to do it better

Do you want to write for Gypsy Girl?

Plan ahead when starting a new blog

Ask and you shall receive: 5 steps for getting people to say yes

5 tips for surviving a move from a tropical to an Arctic climate

My own personal climate change – moving from Australia to Canada   By Jessica Meddows   Tropical and arctic in my case are a little hyperbolic. But only a little. Canada has days where it is colder than Mars. Sydney, where I moved from, makes front page news of the state newspapers if it hits […]
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Temperature falls on Niagara New Year

Do you want to write for Gypsy Girl?

Sponsors needed for upcoming Launch Party

Body Blitz Canadian style

Fresh: A vegetarian and vegan restaurant in Toronto, Canada

Through the looking glass in PNGs Highlands

Immerse yourself in Navajo culture

By: Mark Combs   Title: Heart Chants Author: Randy Attwood Genre: Mystery Series or Standalone: Series (Phillip McGuire Mysteries #2)     BLURB Burnt-out former foreign correspondent Phillip McGuire is happy owning and running a bar in Lawrence, Kansas. He’s happy with his new house in the country. But he’s not happy. When two female Navajo […]
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Book Review: The Lonely Mile by Allan Leverone

Book Review: Massacre Pond by Paul Doiron

Book review: The Greenland Breach by Bernard Besson

Book Review: For Nothing by Nicholas Denmon

Book review: A widow for one year by John Irving

Book Review: The Troop by Nick Cutter

4 reasons to make your author email public

How easy are you to find? This last week, I have been contacting the authors we’ve interviewed or reviewed on this website over the last 18 months. You’d think that would be a relatively straight forward task, but there are times I’ve felt like I’m channeling Sherlock Holmes as I’ve searched high and low for […]
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Want to feature on The Writers’ Shack?

How to self-publish a book

Should you discount your book or give it away free?

Get published with Fire and Ice YA

How to get published at Moonshine Cove

Query Letter Pet Peeves – Agents Speak | Writers In The Storm Blog

A Passage from Italy

A Passage from Italy by Mark H. Bloom with Jason Scholder   They say getting there is half the fun. I say sometimes they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. Once, many years ago, while traveling in Europe, I needed to get from southern Italy to Germany — over the Alps to Grandmother’s […]
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The Wailing Wall

The Gypsies

Florida: Son of a Beach

Land of the midnight sun

Mexico: Beyond the Bubble

Not such a lemon after all

Query Letter Pet Peeves – Agents Speak | Writers In The Storm Blog

Ready to send your book out and contact agents? The last thing you want to do is to rush that submission out the door and hurt your book’s chances.   When submitting your all-important query to agents or editors, it’s not just a question of what to write in the letter—it’s also a question of […]
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How to get published at Glass House Press

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Digital didn’t kill the paperback book

How to get published with Top That! Publishing

How to get published at Moonshine Cove

How to get published with Xcite Books

9 steps to improve your writing

This is The Writers’ Shack, and you’re here, so I’m going to assume you’re a writer. If you earn your living as a writer, we’ll even assume you’re a good one. But even good writers can improve. Here are 9 steps for turning good into great. 1 – Create a routine Great writers have a […]
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Ask and you shall receive: 5 steps for getting people to say yes

Useful travel writing tips for beginners

25 ways to tighten your writing

Who’s afraid to market their books Part 2

Do you want to write for Gypsy Girl?

Writer’s block: where did all my ideas go?

The most touching film I have seen all year

Touched by The Intouchables   Forget big Hollywood action or well-known actors. This movie has neither (at least, I have never heard of François Cluzet and Omar Sy before, though I’m sure they’re well-known in France). But what it does have is honesty, heart and warmth that will leaving you feeling warm and fuzzy hours after the movie […]
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Gap year – Hamish and Andy style

Bateman’s Bad Words

Movie Review: Gangster Squad

Is Miley Cyrus the new Lindsay?

Travel tips for France from a former French spy

Be a Reviewer for The Writers’ Shack

Gender bender

Flipping stereotypes on their head   Stereotypes. Are they good, bad or a normal part of life?   Despite plenty of attempts to rid the world of stereotypes, they still exist. In the home, in the workplace, in social situations, in the school yard…   But what happens when we flip those stereotypes around? Here’s a […]
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Stop getting up on the wrong side of the bed

New blog launch: Fat Gypsy Slim

Why your business is missing out if it’s not on social media

The biggest ebook giveaway ever

The Pain Barrier: push through or take note?

Book Review: Vampire Tanning by S. Wolf