Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 5

Seasons, Symbols, and the Truth Beneath the Gimmick

Have you ever themed a book or a storyaround a holiday or a specific time of year? What do you think about writingsomething aimed at a certain holiday or event? Are you limiting your audienceor taking advantage of the season like a singer releasing a Christmas album ora TV show doing a Halloween themed episode?

I’ve never set out to write a story centered around aholiday, though seasons often work their way into my fiction—not as backdrop,but as metaphor.

Autumn isn’t just orange leaves an...

Have you ever themed a book or a story around a holiday...

 

 

Have you ever themed a book or a story around a holidayor a specific time of year? What do you think about writing something aimed ata certain holiday or event? Are you limiting your audience or taking advantageof the season like a singer releasing a Christmas album or a TV show doing aHalloween themed episode?

Personally, I’ve neverwritten a book or a story around a specific holiday or a specific time of year,but I wouldn’t thumb my nose at those who do. Funny, when I read this que...

We Will Sell No Wine Before Its Time from James W. Ziskin

We’ve all seen authors dropping cryptic hints on social media about big newsthey can’t share yet. Teasers that spark curiosity but also prompt questions like, Why the secrecy? and Who decides what to share and when? 

With apologies to Orson Welles and the Paul Masson wine brand, “We will sell no wine before its time.”

Vaguebooking

I really don’t have strong feelings either way about it, other than to say that I doubt it’s effective as a marketing strategy. Or I should say it’s ineffective unless th...

Big Things Coming Soon — Stay Tuned!

by Dietrich

We’ve all seen authors dropping cryptic hints on social media about big news they can’t share yet. Teasers that spark curiosity but also prompt questions like, Why the secrecy? and Who decides what to share and when? 

Vague posts like Big things coming soon, stay tuned! build anticipation while respecting professional constraints. The publishing world is complex, with agents, publishers, editors, and marketing teams all shaping when and how news is shared. Contracts may still be in neg...

Shhh, Don't Tell Anyone

 

Terry here, with the question of the week: 
I see a lot of writers post vague messages about news they “can’t talk about yet”. What are your rules about what and when to release info on upcoming releases, big contract news, exciting things on the horizon? Do you decide what and when to reveal, or is it coming from agents, publishers, etc? 
Rules? Rules? I’ve got no rules. When the contract is signed, I shout about it. No hesitation. And no, I usually don’t post “teasers.” If I’m going to be showi...

Penmanship Confessions by Matthew Greene

Handwritten or typed? Some writers, even today, will hand write a first draft. Some have 3rd grade penmanship from the atrophy our handwriting has suffered. Do you still hand write any part of your writing process or are you all type, all the time? 

My second grade teacher was very troubled by my penmanship. She would hover over my shoulder clucking her tongue at the misshapen loops of my Bs and the sad, sorry tails of my Rs. Things got even worse when we made the switch to cursive, and this teac...

Scary Stories by Poppy Gee

Writers should establish systems that create calm in the chaos that can come with creativity.

I recently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had tostart again. What’s the biggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how didyou overcome it?

This is the one of worst things that can happen to a writer. It's a real life horror story that happened to my blogging colleague Eric, who wrote this question. Read his post here to see how he coped by writing his way through the despair.

I’ve lost sectio...

No crying on the yacht, by Catriona

I recently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s the biggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how did you overcome it?

[Be there in a bit after I've driven down to give Eric a hug... Okay, I'm back.]

That has never happened to me, but it's like the idea of accidentally grating your knuckles off while zesting a lemon: you don't have to experience it to wince.

I have had some disappointments more than setbacks as such, but they still rankle. Mostly because I can't c...

Just keep typing by Eric Beetner

 I recently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s the biggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how did you overcome it?

I wrote this month's questions, so that 30K that went missing? That was mine.

My hard drive had a meltdown and in an instant everything went dark. I have a backup drive, but I had been doing that most human of things and putting off for months the notices that the drive was full and could no long backup effectively. What I could recover from it wer...

Fly with the Birds, Swim with the Fishes

 

Irecently lost 30K of a novel in progress and had to start again. What’s thebiggest setback you’ve had in your writing, and how did you overcome it?

This question hit me hard.If you’ve lived this scenario, you know the panic, the adrenaline dump, thecortisol crash later—and the litany of profanities you didn’t know existed inthe primordial lexicon of pain.

My next novel, Eyes to Deceit—a fictionalizedtake on the 1953 coup that returned the Shah of Iran to power, sowing seeds forthe 197...