Irene Ziegler's Blog, page 18

When Is Your Next Book Coming Out?

One of the kindest things you can do for an author is tell her you enjoyed her book. Why don't you do that right now? Lots of authors have websites or author pages, so contact information is pretty easy to find. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Congratulations. That was a very nice thing you just did. Several of my friends have checked in lately, to tell me they enjoyed Ashes to Water. This is wonderfully validating, motivating, and makes my day. I love my friends. Even when their next question is...

B&N Promo Code

Save 15% on any one item ONLINE at Barnes & Nobel with promo code U4L9U74. If you buy Ashes to Water, they will accept Monopoly money.

New Review for RULES OF THE LAKE

Thank you, Sandy Nawrot, for this great review!Friday, August 6, 2010Back at the beginning of the summer, I reviewed Irene Ziegler's new release "Ashes to Water", a "mysterature" that was drenched in old Florida atmosphere. I experienced something close to love at first sight with the story's protagonist, Annie Bartlett, a damaged woman with a strong sense of justice. While the book stood on its own, I knew that Ziegler had written a prequel, entitled "Rules of the Lake", that delved...

Can't Find Your Writing Voice? Steal One.

When I was in the creative writing program at the University of Virginia (lo these many moons ago), author Robert Hemenway taught a class that would prove seminal. He required we read selected works of Issac Babel, D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Porter and Ernest Hemingway. The final assignment was to write a story in the style of one of these authors.
I've heard writers say that reading-to-imitate rocks their boat. They are afraid of getting another author's voice in their head. Isn't the whole...

Prologue from Ashes to Water

November 29, 1962
Damp and heavy-limbed, nine-year-old Annie Bartlett jerked awake beneath her father's chin.  The scent of pine needles and lake mud snaked through jalousie windows.  Lying still, Annie breathed her father's expelled air, and thought of mermaids.They lurked in Widow Lake, she was sure of it. She had only to unlock the mystery of breathing underwater, and her own transformation would be complete. Her mother, who used to be a professional skier at Cypress Gardens, claimed to...

Depending on the Kindness of Strangers, or Stumping For Ashes

Last week, while you were sweltering in our new global climate, I was in Seattle and Portland, wearing a light jacket and feeling God in each cool breeze. I'm told September is particularly gorgeous in this partof the country. For me, that would be a bad thing. I would probably swoon alot in public, and be removed for my own safety.
My first signing event was at the Seattle Mystery Book Shop. I knew my name wasn't going to pull people into the store, so I assailed unsuspecting tourists (and...

Text, Context, & Subtext: How to Talk About Something Without Talking About it.

Subtext is like a donut hole.

It exists, but only in the context of something else. You don't really write subtext, because that's the stuff people don't say. to put it another way:

1. The stuff that people say is text.
2. The stuff that people mean, is subtext.

Let's say I give you a present for your birthday. All aflutter, you rip open the box and what do you see? A pair of Crocs. "Nice," you say. "I don't have a pair of these. Thanks a lot." But what you mean is, "If I wanted a pair of butt-fu...

See You in Seattle!

If you're in the neighborhood, please stop by the Seattle Mystery Book Shop, 117 Cherry St. on Friday, July 30, and say hello. I'll be signing Ashes to Water. I'm giving away free cars to the first 10 people who buy my book.

And if you can't make that one, I'm in Portland the next day at 1:00 pm, at Murder By the Book, 3210 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. I'm giving away 3BR ranchers to the first 10 people who buy my book.

And then I'm coming home.

Your free cars and ranchers will arrive within three days ...

When it Comes to Writing Dialogue, "Women are From Venus, Men are From Bars"

Men talk funny. They say stuff like, "Do these pants make my butt look big?" I mean, really, would you ever hear a woman say anything as weird as that? Fiction writers love hearing that sort of thing, because men and women talk differently, and it takes a tuned ear (or a crash course in Gender Communication Studies) when writing dialogue that captures those differences.

I frequently hear men say, "I can't write good women's dialogue." Maybe that's because they're too busy looking at their butt...

Save 40% on Ashes to Water

Click here to take advantage of a coupon, good through Monday, July 26 at Borders. If you use it to buy anything other than my book, Ashes to Water, your eyeballs will fall out.

Not really.

Enjoy!

(Ashes to Water is available in their online store only.) 
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