First Word

I just finished my new novel titled The Abused . I also received feedback from my focus group of early readers. Responses were all extremely positive with the common comment being “I couldn’t stop reading it.” I get asked all of the time, “How do I write a page-turner?” My answer may sound simple, but it’s not easy to do. The main ingredient to writing a page-turner is to create constant intrigue. Your reader must be interested and intrigued enough to want to keep reading. How do you create intrigue? Tip #1: Show don’t tell . Last night I read a chapter from The Abused. “I love the way you built up the tension. How did you do it?” So let me give you the set up scene from the book… On this outing, Frank was in his usual laid-back mood. Jonesy had gotten up early ready to jog. They were standing in front of the morning fire watching the gray tin coffee pot that sat on the grill begin to bubble up. Jonesy wore a green jogging suit, and Frank had on...

I've been watching the new HBO series WestWorld and have found its storytelling methods rather intriguing. What makes this series very unique is the dual worlds in which the stories are unfolding. You have the "Park" world that is a throwback to old westerns and gun slinging and then you have the science fiction of the engineers behind the Park. The questions posed in the science fiction story line come out in the "hosts" who exist in the Park. The primary theme has to do with questions related to consciousness. While the hosts are grappling with their memories returning (and these memories have to do with the brutality and abuse the robots suffer at the hands of the guests), the guests are dealing with questions about identity and self. The intellectual capital in this series is truly fascinating. Are you a hero or a villain? Do the hosts want revenge and to decide upon their own story lines. Beneath all of this subterfuge is the corporate agenda for the p...

I just finished the final edit on my new novel The Abused . Thanks to DB Stearns for lending a hand on this project. Even given his adept input and fixes, I still found numerous mistakes, which just goes to show even the editor needs an editor. I always find it a reflection of either enormous egos or just inexperience when people contact me to publish their books and strongly say, "It doesn't need to be edited. My (fill in the blank with "English" professor, librarian, or best friend who is obsessed with grammar) edited it. It's fine.   These folks either don't understand that I'm 200 percent positive it won't be fine or they just don't want to make the necessary investment to really make it fine. Once I worked with an author who absolutely insisted every mistake had been caught. I challenged her and said, "I promise you there are mistakes. It has absolutely nothing to do with editorial prowess." She still challenged ...

Now onto other topics ... today's topic is what I'm going to call "Traditional Publishing Snobbery" AKA as TPS. I've run into it my entire career and I wanted to refute why it's nothing more than elitist misconceptions driven by old school ideas.   Listening to TPS from unpublished authors who think they know everything is akin to listening to your 12-year-old lecture you about relationships and marriage LOL (yes, my daughter recently shared her "insights" on marriage). Many TPSnobs (not snobbery) hold the ancient reader misconception that traditional publishing act as a gateway to production of "great" literature. If you're not traditionally published then your book must not be any good. This fallacy is just that - a false truth.   Let me explain. Foremost, the top six traditional publishers are businesses, well, actually corporations. What are corporation designed to do? Make money. Traditional publishers like ...