Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 213

space and place

What role does setting play in the books you read or write?
It's a bit like talking about air. Setting is vital, but just kind of there. Like air, it's got to be life-sustaining, but not too noticeable, I think, at least in crime fiction.
Setting in a book remains relatively slow-moving against the dynamics of whatever the characters are up to. It ties things together. In some books setting is more a character than others, such as heavy rains and a fast-rising river figuring...<![endif]--><!--[if gte vml 1]>

A Character Named Burgundy

Q: Do your favorite authors use setting as character?
-from Susan
With a new book coming out in a few days, I’ve been invited to do some guest blog posts here and there. I could write about the mystery at the heart of the story, but because it’s set in France and I love France, I find I’ve been drawn to focus on the setting. The physical environment is as much a character in Love & Death in Burgundy as are Katherine and Michael Goff, the middle-aged American artist and her musician husband...

Wired For The Big Deal

Do you strive to earn income on your writing from other than royalties on books sales? If so, what additional income sources do you pursue?

I've been striving, but I can't say it's to earn income from my writing. For me, it's a personal thing. No matter what I do creatively, and no matter what I earn monetarily, I'm really only working toward a feeling. I have a lot going on in my mind and heart and it's important for me to get it out in a way that provokes a sense of fulfillment. That's made...

Eighty-Five Cents an Hour

by Alan

Do you strive to earn income on your writing from other than royalties on books sales? If so, what additional income sources do you pursue?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Sorry. Every time I think about writers making a lot of money, I laugh uncontrollably. (I know, I should be crying.)

Of course, some writers do make a lot of money. They are probably the ones you’ve heard of. The ones that habitually inhabit the Best Seller Lists. Some even employ a small army of co-writers...

Hard work and blind luck

by Dietrich Kalteis
Do you strive to earn income on your writing from other than royalties on books sales? If so, what additional income sources do you pursue?
I don’t have a grand plan for earning extra income outside of book royalties, I just try to write a good book, and maybe count on some blind luck. And while money’s a great motivator, I try not to let it be the carrot at the end of the stick. 
Submitting short stories to paying markets, looking for gun-for-hire freelance work, editin...

Every Little Bit Helps

By R.J. Harlick
Do you strive to earn income on your writing from other than royalties on books sales? If so, what additional income sources do you pursue?
Many of us when we start out on this writing adventure have dreams of six figure advances, even seven. But after endless rejections from agents and publishers we end up being very happy in just getting a publisher. The fact there is an advance, usually no more than four figures, becomes merely the icing on the cake.
According to the Writers...

Money, Money, MONEY

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Connie di Marco: In a Stew About Promotion ;-)

Paul here. Today I’d like to welcome Connie di Marco, author, actress and super souper. As Connie di Marco she writes the Zodiac Mysteries from Midnight Ink, featuring San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti. Writing as Connie Archer, she’s also the author of the national bestselling Soup Lover’s Mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime. Her excerpts and recipes are featured in The Cozy Cookbook and The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. She has appeared in numerous television and film roles under...

A Scot in Trouble Up a Tree.

“With thousands of new titles being published every day, what do you do to try to raise your new book above the fray and catch the eye of readers?”  by CatrionaYesterday Cathy looked at the all-important jacket image - the first thing a potential reader sees. Today I'm going to move on to the next step we take when we try to decide whether or not buy a book . . . the words.
Not, you understand, the words the writer works on, hones, edits and polishes for months and years but the words on...

A Scot Up a Tree in Trouble.

“With thousands of new titles being published every day, what do you do to try to raise your new book above the fray and catch the eye of readers?”  by CatrionaYesterday Cathy looked at the all-important jacket image - the first thing a potential reader sees. Today I'm going to move on to the next step we take when we try to decide whether or not buy a book . . . the words.
Not, you understand, the words the writer works on, hones, edits and polishes for months and years but the words on...