www.armchairinterviews.com Listen to debut and bestselling authors.
www.coolstuff4writers.com novelty items for the writerly…
www.eighteenquestions.com view of experienced writers in a series of 18 questions.
www.noveljourney.blogspot.com collection of interviews with authors,editors and freelancers
www.writersfm.com online broadcasts of author interviews!
www.writesideout.com free, printable posters, bookmarks, etc. from favorite authors.
For the aspiring writer…
A few plot starters, just for fun.
Occupation: Give them a unique job or occupation. Is it one that they can get killed at? Or kill someone else?
Road Trip: How about getting into a predicament on vacation? Some exotic location? New characters? New loves?
Romantic - Out with the old, in with the new: What about changing relationships. Breakups. Dump that boyfriend, find Mr. Right!
Close Quarters aka: I can’t get out! You’re stuck. On a cruise ship. An Island. (Good premise: LOST Bad premise: Gilligan’s Island)Stuck in a room - 12 Angry Men. In a snowed-in hotel - The Shining. On another island - The Storm of the Century. On a train - Murder on the Orient Express
I Can’t Help But Kill Again: The serial killer with the ticking clock as an ally. This one naturally turns up the heat.
Second Chances: The past rises and the character has to confront it.
I Didn’t Do It: The character must prove their own innocence or the innocence of a friend or relative. ie. - The Fugitive
I Said, No Police!: Because they’re corrupt. Because if you go to the authorities, the kidnapped will be killed. Because of the legal ramifications. But the protagonist still has to solve the crime.
Forbidden Love: We must be together, but we can’t. Why? Because of: Family. Social Status. War. Proximity. Health. Another Planet (Venus or Mars?)
These are just a few that I’ve learned over the years, hopefully they will get your writing juices flowing…
www.brainyquote.com Need a quote?
www.theteacherscorner.net/daily-writing-prompts/index.htm Looking for inspiration?
www.m-w.com You can’t beat Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary
www.refdesk.com “Of the day” trivia
www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames Need a character name?
www.wikipedia.org One of my favorites, it’s like the Borg Encyclopedia!
www.book-in-a-week.com Write as much as you possible can!
www.nanowrimo.org I’ve participated in this one, it’s fun!
www.agentquery.com A free searchable database for agents.
www.authormba.com/resources/blog_insiders.htm To improve your writing.
www.absolutewrite.com Find helpful tips on writing.
more later…
My Soul to Keep by Melanie Wells
Genre: Fiction/Suspense – Released 2/19/08 – ISBN 978-1-59052-428-2
As nasty as I knew Peter Terry to be, I never expected him to start kidnapping kids. Much less a sweet, funny little boy with nothing to protect him but a few knock-kneed women, two rabbits, and a staple gun…
It’s psychology professor Dylan Foster’s favorite day of the academic year–graduation day. A day of pomp, circumstance, and celebration. And after all the mortar boards are thrown, Dylan and some of her best friends will gather around a strawberry cake to celebrate Christine Zocci’s sixth birthday. But the joyful summer afternoon goes south when a little boy is snatched from a neighborhood park, setting off a chain of events that seem to lead exactly nowhere.
Police are baffled, but Christine’s eerie connection with the kidnapped child sends Dylan on a chilling investigation of her own. Is the pasty, elusive stranger Peter Terry to blame? Exploding light bulbs, the deadly buzz of a Texas rattlesnake, and the vivid, disturbing dreams of a little girl are just pieces in a long trail of tantalizing clues leading Dylan in her dogged search for the truth.
To purchase: http://www.amazon.com/My-Soul-Keep-Dylan-Foster/dp/1590524284/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206885058&sr=1-1
I read a great article in Writer’s Digest April 2008 that I thought I would share.
(This is not the issue)
Here is the link to Writer’s Digest, a magazine that I read religiously every month.
http://www.writersdigest.com/GeneralMenu/
I found this interesting about the definitions of the genres.
Under the category of Thriller/Suspense
1. Police Procedural
2. Horror
3. Historical
4. Forensic
5. Political Intrigue
6. Medical
7. Technological
8. Legal
9. Supernatural
10. Romantic
11. Comic
I am attempting to retool this portion of the site, have more about writing and authors and agents and helpful tips that I have learned through the years. So please bear with me. The holidays put me behind, more soon..
In the mean time check out www.daverhoades.org/blog
What people are saying about, “For Parents Only”
Go behind the scenes into the mind of your teens and pre-teens—and discover why they act, talk, and think like they do! Using the same innovative approach that sparked national water-cooler conversation with ‘For Women Only,’ Feldhahn and Rice’s nationwide research on young people will help confused parents understand the inner desires, fears and needs that spark their kids’ confusing or exasperating behaviors — insight that will allow parents to not only get ahead in the parenting game, but relate so much better with their kid. 192 pages, hardcover from Multnomah.-Christianbook.com
—
Filled with profound, eye-opening and statistically solid survey results garnered from more than 1,200 teenagers nationwide, FOR PARENTS ONLY offers moms and dads a never-before-seen glimpse into the hearts and minds of their children. Tackling such topics as what’s really going on behind that attitude, the six biggest pet peeves of teens regarding their parents and how and when to allow kids appropriate responsibility and risk, best-selling authors Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa A. Rice unravel the mysteries behind the misunderstood behavior of young people.“Whether you’re the parent of a small child and want to lay a foundation for the years ahead, or whether you only have a few months left until Junior leaves the nest, the goal of this book is to help you understand several key things that are likely going on in the inner life of your child, some inner wiring that you may have never understood before,” writes Feldhahn. “Our goal is to serve as your tour guides through the strange and wonderful world of ‘teendom’ and give you new information to help you understand what’s going on inside kids… and how these facts can give clearer direction to your parenting.”FOR PARENTS ONLY better equips moms and dads to not only maximize, but also enjoy the precious little time they have with their children. By beginning to understand their kids better, parents will learn to interact with them in healthier, constructive ways.
Summary:
Shaunti Feldhahn is known for unlocking the mysteries of relationships for men and women. Now she turns to a parent’s relationship with a child, particularly a child of the opposite sex. Drawing on the results of a nationwide survey of kids and teenagers, she explores questions such as:
- What do moms need to understand about the “tough and tender” boy who values respect over love?
- What do dads need to understand about their daughter’s need for affirmation?
- What are the six biggest pet peeves teens have about their parents?
Understanding the answers to these and other important questions can help parents make the holidays a time of celebration and unity, not strife and friction.
For Parents Only offers a unique look into a child’s mind and frees readers to communicate in healthier ways as they discover that understanding their kids may not be as complicated as they think.
THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT
Thomas Nelson (October 2, 2007)
by
Neta Jackson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Neta Jackson Neta Jackson’s award-winning Yada books have sold more than 350,000 copies and are spawning prayer groups across the country. She and her husband, Dave, are also an award-winning husband/wife writing team, best known for the Trailblazer Books–a 40-volume series of historical fiction about great Christian heroes with 1.8 million in sales–and Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes (vols 1-4).
Dave and Neta live in Evanston, Illinois, where for twenty-seven years they were part of Reba Place Church, a Christian church community. They are now members of the Chicago Tabernacle, a multi-racial congregation that is a daughter church of the well-known Brooklyn Tabernacle.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Turkey dinners, tree trimming, and decking the halls–it’s that time of year again! And I Jodi Baxter, can’t wait to celebrate. My kids are coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then all of us Yadas are getting decked out for a big New Year’s party.
But God’s idea of “decked out” might just change the nature of our party plans. A perplexing encounter with a former student, a crime that literally knocks me off my feet, a hurry-up wedding, and a child who will forever change our family…it’s times like these that I really need my prayer sisters.
This holiday season, we Yada Yadas are learning that no one can out celebrate God. So let’s get this party started!
THE YADA YADA PRAYER GROUP GETS DECKED OUT is a festive novella featuring America’s favorite prayer group, the Yada Yadas!
Sometimes dubbed “chick-lit” for their bright covers and catchy titles, this series provides far more depth than witty banter and wacky situations. Inspired by a prayer group of real women, each book will have you laughing, crying, and perhaps praying anew.
In this highly anticipated installment, the Yada Yada sisters-a group of multi-cultural friends-and their families prepare for the event of the season.
But yes, eager readers, this novella—which picks up a year and a half after the end of book #6 The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Rolling concludes the series with some twists and turns that will amaze and encourage you. Plus, it sets the stage for Neta’s new series with new characters and new situations but also occasional roles for the beloved Yada Yada sisters in familiar Chicago neighborhoods with all their cultural richness.
To purchase: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595543619
TRY DYING
(Center Street October 24, 2007)
by
James Scott Bell
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Scott Bell is a former trial lawyer who now writes full time. He is also the fiction columnist for Writers Digest magazine and adjunct professor of writing at Pepperdine University.
His book on writing, Plot and Structure is one of the most popular writing books available today. The national bestselling author of several novels of suspense, he grew up and still lives in Los Angeles, where he is at work on his next Buchanan thriller.
Side note: Jim is a good friend of mine and I love “Try Dying”! It’s one of those books that keeps you riveted to the pages. A must read! (Dave, me)
ABOUT THE BOOK:
On a wet Tuesday morning in December, Ernesto Bonilla, twenty-eight, shot his twenty-three-year-old wife, Alejandra, in the backyard of their West 45th Street home in South Los Angeles. As Alejandra lay bleeding to death, Ernesto drove their Ford Explorer to the westbound Century Freeway connector where it crossed over the Harbor Freeway and pulled to a stop on the shoulder.
Bonilla stepped around the back of the SUV, ignoring the rain and the afternoon drivers on their way to LAX and the west side, placed the barrel of his .38 caliber pistol into his mouth, and fired.
His body fell over the shoulder and plunged one hundred feet, hitting the roof of a Toyota Camry heading northbound on the harbor Freeway. The impact crushed the roof of the Camry. The driver, Jacqueline Dwyer, twenty-seven, an elementary schoolteacher from Reseda, died at the scene.
This would have been simply another dark and strange coincidence, the sort of thing that shows up for a two-minute report on the local news–with live remote from the scene–and maybe gets a follow-up the next day. Eventually the story would go away, fading from the city’s collective memory.
But this story did not go away. Not for me. Because Jacqueline Dwyer was the woman I was going to marry.
In Try Dying, this fast-paced thriller, lawyer Ty Buchanan must enter a world of evil to uncover the cause of his fiancee’s death–even if hie has to kill for the truth.
“Bell is one of the best writers out there…he creates characters readers care about…a story worth telling.”
~Library Review~
To purchase Jim’s book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1599956845
—
Next Page »
