Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 130

Staying (Relatively) Sane

 Terry here writing about :

 

Life:  Who, or what, is keeping you relatively sane these days? Are you able to stay motivated? How?

 

The operative word is “relatively.” I usually am in pretty good form, but there are “those days.” I have a long list of what gets me through the best and worst of days: Books (both reading and writing). Friends and relatives ( on the phone, in FaceTime, in Zoom or other on-line meetings, on social media, in my backyard, and in the case of my husband-friend, in my house...

Staying Sane in the Time of Covid

 Who, or what, is keeping you relatively sane these days? Are you able to stay motivated? How?

Brenda Chapman here.

I like the qualifying word ‘relatively’ in this week’s question. It reminds me of working in communications with lawyers as clients. There'd often be a word or phrase inserted to avoid stating something was an absolute in the event that it later went awry. “’In most cases’ … ‘as far as we know’ … ‘the expected outcome’ … ‘usually safe’ … so whatever I’m about to share is keeping me ...

All the News That Fits

Talk about newsletters.  Do you or do not have one? If you do, how often do you send it out? On what venue? How did you get your newsletter list? If not, why not and how do you contact your readers instead? Are there any authors whose newsletters you think are particularly good?

by Paul D. Marks

Some people swear by newsletters. They say that’s the best tool for marketing. And I think they are a good thing. I have one called PostMarks (clever, huh). And if you’d like to sign up for it you can do i...

When Lexy Met Dandy and Catriona Met Lazy, by Catriona

Business: Talk about newsletters. Do you or do not have one? If you do, how often do you send it out? On what venue? How did you get your newsletter list? If not, why not and how do you contact your readers instead? Are there any authors whose newsletters you think are particularly good?

I didn't have one for the first fifteen years of writing. Then I went to as Sisters in Crime SInC into Great Writing workshop, run by Dana Kaye, publicist extraordinaire. She asked, at the top of the class, if th...

Up close and personal...by Cathy Ace

Business: Talk about newsletters. Do you or do not have one? If you do, how often do you send it out? On what venue? How did you get your newsletter list? If not, why not and how do you contact your readers instead? Are there any authors whose newsletters you think are particularly good?

Yes, I do have a mailing list, and I’m incredibly grateful that those who’ve signed up for it have done so. I use the MailChimp platform, and have to say I found it pretty easy to use from the beginning. But I k...

Hot Off the Press!

Business: Talk about newsletters.  Do you or do not have one? If you do, how often do you send it out? On what venue? How did you get your newsletter list? If not, why not and how do you contact your readers instead? Are there any authors whose newsletters you think are particularly good?

From Frank

Let's break this one down, point by point...

Do you or do not have one? Yes, I do, for a little over a year now. I wish I'd started one back in 2006, when my first book came out. Not only would the list...

To Newsletter or Not

 Q:Talk about newsletters.  Do you or do not have one? If you do, how often do you send it out? On what venue? How did you get your newsletter list? If not, why not and how do you contact your readers instead? Are there any authors whose newsletters you think are particularly good? 

- from Susan
I think I started mulling over the newsletter idea after the publication of my second Dani O’Rourke mystery. I was getting good reviews, my publisher had done a Book Bub deal that resulted in 5,000 copies ...

Learning from the Crapometer - How I Made My Work Better

When you have craft questions, where do you go for answers? A particular website? A book? Podcasts? Writer friends?

Abir Mukherjee

 

Interesting question this week, and I think one that gets to the heart of the type of author you are. I have friends who are meticulous in their planning and their general approach to writing (and life, probably). They have shelves packed with books on the craft of writing – on everything from plot, to character to dialogue. It works for them, and I must admit I’m env...

Little Help Here? from James W. Ziskin

When you have craft questions, where do you go for answers? A particular website? A book? Podcasts? Writer friends?


This week’s question is a difficult one. Why? Because the vast majority of questions I have are research related, not craft related.

I am very much a solitary writer. I don’t show my work to anyone until I’ve done at least three complete revisions. So any questions I might have about craft go to my beta readers. Usually It’s something along the lines of “Is this compelling? Does this...

The right track

When you have craft questions, where do you go for answers? A particular website? A book? Podcasts? Writer friends?

by Dietrich

I learned a good deal about craft from reading, reading and more reading. I read what I think is good, the kind of books that inspire my own writing. And maybe some of that resonates and becomes part of what works for me. 

When I got started, I found out about showing and not telling; having hidden meaning under a character’s dialogue; using description sparingly to drive ...