Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 202

Sounding my own...by Cathy Ace

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Advice from here - by RM Greenaway

"LIFE If you could talk to the person you were when you were writing your first-published novel, what insights and guidance would you give yourself about the writing life?"

When I first read this question, I started compiling a list of all the MANY MANY things I could tell my young self as I started plunking away at Draft 1 so many years ago.
I've come up with moral support and technical pointers, assurances that all will be okay, in spite of the heartbreak, tears, crumpled up rejection letter...

Dear Susan, Circa 2008

Q: If you could talk to the person you were when you were writing your first-published novel, what insights and guidance would you give yourself about the writing life?"
- from Susan

1.     The laundry can wait. So can Facebook and closet reorganizations and TV reruns. Make a commitment to your professional goal of finishing the first book and honor it, and yourself.
2.     Trust your instincts. You may have been to one or a few writers’ workshops, picked...

Cart before the Horse?

As a writer, what do you make of readers who flip to the end and see what happens last first?


Hmm. This is something I doubt I would ever do. I like the journey a story tells and wouldn't want to arrive before I've left the station. We’ve even coined a phrase that demonstrates our passion for being surprised by an ending: spoiler alert. But people like to do things their own way, and I get that. As a matter of fact, I hate it when others comment on, say, what I like to eat and when. So vive la...

Closing thoughts on opening lines

by Dietrich Kalteis
As a writer, what do you make of readers who flip to the end and see what happens last first?
Flipping to the end of a novel to find out how it ends is like reaching under the Christmas tree when no one’s around and unwrapping a present, getting a sneak-peek, then rewrapping it, and trying to act surprised Christmas morning. To me, that just ruins the moment. 
The ending to a good novel is the wrap up of everything that came before. At times the author may hint at severa...

Like eating dessert before the meal

By R.J. Harlick
As a writer, what do you make of readers who flip to the end and see what happens last first?
It’s a little like having the lemon meringue pie, profiterole or whatever your favourite dessert is, before savouring the other equally scrumptious dishes of a meal.  It spoils your taste buds. A good meal is designed to gradually build up your taste buds until they explode with the piece de resistance of dessert.
A good book, be it a crime novel or other kind of fiction, works muc...

Skipping to the End

As a writer, what do you make of readers who flip to the end to see what happens last first?"
As a mystery writer, I work diligently to set up clues, red herrings, and relationships among my characters to keep readers guessing, but also so they can play along with the game. I want readers to be intrigued by the journey to figuring out whodunit. I want them to be satisfied that when they end comes, they have been able to participate and that they “should have” or “could have” guessed the solut...

Rainy Day Rewind

If you were kitting out a holiday cottage (vacation rental) what would you put on the bookshelf for rainy days?

by Paul D. Marks

Rainy days and reading just seem to go together, don’t they? Besides the obvious of being stuck inside I wonder why, something about atmosphere and ambience. I’m going to talk about books that I’d like to re-read. There’s an argument to be made for not re-reading but only reading new things, but you get more out of something the second time. You already know the plot...

The Great Idea Robbery

Catriona writes: I am on a fortnight's holiday  (US = two weeks' vacation) but with fortunate timing, my friend, writer and Bloody Scotland organiser Gordon Brown, is here in my place, talking about a sequel I'm delighted to be hearing about, an idea decades in the making, and  - you don't see these every day - an actual honest-to-goodness McGuffin.
Take it away, Gordon.

On the 8th of August 1963, the most famous robbery in UK history occurred when a Royal Mail train, running from Gla...

Sweet Sixteen! by Cathy Ace

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