Terry Odell's Blog, page 332

More on Voice

What I'm reading: How to Abduct a Highland Lord, by Karen Hawkins.Thanks so much to Neil Plakcy for his insights into voice yesterday. The subtleties and nuances of writing, those 'you can't teach it' intangibles are the things that we're always striving to improve in our own writing.And speaking of writing. I'm finally back into a semblance of the pre-holiday routine. One thing I noticed—when I

What is Voice, Anyway?

Today, my guest at Terry's Place is author Neil Plakcy, who has published six novels (four mystery, two romance) and edited three anthology collections. He teaches writing at Broward College in south Florida and is vice president of the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America. In the course of writing and editing in these different genres, as well as teaching students how to write better,

Cruising

What I'm reading: Cutting Edge, by Allison BrennanAfter an uneventful drive to Port Canaveral, we found two lines of cars moving very little, if at all. Rather than schlep our luggage from the parking garage, we figured we'd join the line snaking around to the drop off point. Eventually, it was our turn, and a porter took our checked luggage and added it to the growing piles on the carts. When we

Under way

Terry Odellsent from my Blackjack

Aboard ship

Terry Odellsent from my Blackjack

Dying Declaration, Part 1

Today is the last day of our cruise, and Part 1 of the next chapter in Detective Hussey's case files. Death is something cops deal with on a regular basis. Death is a natural thing, when it occurs naturally, but can be quite another thing if it happens by accident or as a result of a malicious or criminal act. It can be humorous, or even enjoyable, if it happens as revenge as a result of what

Thomas Magnum or Han Solo?

This one's just for fun. A couple of my "heroes." Kudos to whoever put it together, and thanks to my daughter for thinking to send it to me.Tomorrow, it's Homicide Detective Mark Hussey's turn again.

Car Crashes and Sub-Genres

Fun stuff to do while I'm gone:Readers here know I've never been fond of labels, especially for my own writing. I write the story, then try to figure out where it fits in the sub-genres of commercial fiction. I ran across this "system" during a recent jaunt through the blogosphere, and just had to share. First, check out any vehicle accidents in your book. Don't have any? Take a minute to sketch

Horses and Blue Trolls

While I'm cruising out in the Caribbean somewhere, I'm turning over Terry's Place to one of my crit partners, Steve Pemberton. I'll let him speak for himself. Since he's in England, his schedule for responding to comments will be on his time, not mine.Horses and Blue Trolls: How Real Should Fiction Be? I'm one of Terry critique partners, so I get to see her books while they're still "under

A Change of Venue(s)

What I'm reading: Footprints in the Butter, by Denise Dietz I hope you enjoyed the pictures from St. Augustine Beach. I had a very relaxing AND productive time. First, the hotel was on the beach, not in the historic or downtown shopping area. Hubby had a meeting about 10 miles down the road, and this was the hotel the government picked. No complaints. I took a walk on the beach in the mornings, (