Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 105

Backstory Takes a Back Seat

How do you deal with backstory? How much do you need, and where do you put it? How do you know what to leave in, and what to take out?
From Frank
As time has passed, I have become a less and less tolerant reader when it comes to info-dumps. I see them as lazy at best and immersion shattering at worst. This method of conveying backstory is often handled clumsily, even by good writers in otherwise good books. I recently put down a highly touted multiple-award nominated book about a quarter of the wa...

A Fresh Perspective by a New Crime Writer

 I’m pleased to welcome Karen E. Osborne as a guest author. Karen and I met when we worked for a university in New York State. In those days we wrote a lot, but it wasn’t fiction – or we hoped it wasn’t. I was delighted when I learned last year that she’s joined our ranks. Her second book, which starts with a jolt, is just out. Here’s a chance to learn something about it, and about her. 

Karen: I’ve been writing since the age of twelve and making up stories for as long as I can remember. As a kid...

Guest blogger - Vaseem Khan

 

Hello. Abir here. This week I'm handing my spot over to my good friend and co-presenter of the Red Hot Chilli Writers podcast, Vaseem Khan. Vaseem is the author of the Inspector Chopra series and the CWA Historical Dagger winning Persis Wadia series, both set in Bombay. His latest novel, The Dying Day, is out now. You should buy it because if you don't, he has threatened to hit me with a stick.

Now. Over to Vaseem.

How has writing changed your life and how has life changed your writing?

by Vaseem ...

Not Drowning But Writing, by Catriona

 How has writing changed your life, and how has life changed your writing?

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It's Jim's week, but we swapped because I've got a new book just out (see above) and I'm blogging relentlessly. One drawback to this plan, which I didn't foresee, is that most weeks I get a running start at my post from the Wednesday wisdom of Cathy Ace. So today felt a bit weird . . . until I read Dietrich's Wednesday post and realised it's the same deal with a different hairdo.

As Dietrich said yesterday, then, w...

Pinch me, I’m dreaming

Image by cocoparisienne

How has writing changed your life, and how has life changed your writing?

by Dietrich

Writing is something I wanted to do most of my life, and since I finally got around to being able to do it full time, I’ve never tired of it. There’s a knowing that I’m doing the right thing for me. And there’s fulfillment and purpose to making up stories and getting the words on the page.

I’ve stuck to it for the past decade and a half, and I’ve never wanted to take a break from it. In fact...

Writing and Life

 

Terry here answering our question of the week: 
How has writing changed your life, and how has life changed your writing? Since I have been making up stories and writing them down my whole life, I have to say that writing didn’t change my life—it IS my life. 
What did change my life was being published. I knew there had been a big change in my confidence the first time I spoke in front of an audience after my first book was published. That was a bookstore talk attended by 35 or so people. I stoo...

Writing Reflections

How has writing changed your life, and how has life changed your writing?

Brenda Chapman

Writing has made my life a lot richer and colourful. I needed a creative outlet to feel fulfilled and writing has given me that. Last week, I received an email from a man who said he listened to my first two Stonechild and Rouleau mysteries while working on his farm. I also received emails last week from a couple of readers in New Zealand, someone in Newfoundland and others in Michigan and Calgary. What could ...

Dancing to Architecture by Josh Stallings

 Q: Do you have hobbies outside of your writing life? Tell about them. Do they feed your writing life? Do they get your mind off your current projects and their attendant frustrations? Do they satisfy a different part of you than is satisfied by your writing?

I used to have hobbies, I tell myself. But I’m not sure that’s true. There are things I do that seem hobby-like but they are almost always extensions of my writing life. For example, learning to shoot various firearms, led me into target sho...

All the News That Fits to Print from James W. Ziskin

Subbing for Catriona this week. She’ll be back next week!

QUESTION: Do you have hobbies outside of your writing life? Tell about them. Do they feed your writing life? Do they get your mind off your current projects and their attendant frustrations? Do they satisfy a different part of you than is satisfied by your writing?

This week’s question reminds me that I lead a boring life. And I wrote a piece quite similar to this in October 2019. Have a look here: http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2019/10...

Outside Hobbies

Do you have hobbies outside of your writing life? Tell about them. Do they feed your writing life? Do they get your mind off your current projects and their attendant frustrations? Do they satisfy a different part of you than is satisfied by your writing?

From Frank

Like most everyone, I have multiple interests. I'm certain some of those interests overlap with those of my panel-mates - reading, for one. In much the same vein, good movies and television. (As a side note that could be a whole other ...