Research Trip: Plan for No Plan My day job is ghostwriting. My current project is a thriller. The culmination of the story takes place at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Pictures, Google Maps, and other resources cannot replace the experience of being on site. The author had personal reasons for visiting over and above…
Write Time Blog
The Malleable Author Bio
Your Author Bio and Readers Your author bios are an important part of your book marketing package. Your bio is your introduction to the world as an author. Think of it as a news story not a memoir. The main point of your author bio is to get new readers for your books.Your bio will…
The Murder Challenge in Argolicus Mysteries
Image credit bbc.co.uk The Dual Laws The Argolicus Mysteries are set in early Sixth Century Italy. At that time the country was governed by two sets of laws. Native Italians (Romans) inherited a set a laws from the Roman Empire which had collapsed the century before. The Ostrogoths under King Theodoric held to their ancient…
The Writing Magic of Brainstorming Scenes First
Brainstorm First, Organize Later Writers want a story that is unlike any other. Brainstorming your scenes is a creative way to capture the essence of your story. The ideas go straight from your head into story scenes. Use old-fashioned 3×5 cards, tools like Scrivener, or just list them out in a document. Keep adding scenes…
Scene Editing to Grab Reader Attention
Check Your Scenes for Story Essentials Indie authors are feeling a big push to produce as much as possible in the shortest time. Get those books up! Sell more! At the same time your readers expect a great story rich in detail and emotional tugs. Sometimes when we rush to get the story done, those…
First Page Essentials
Hook Your Reader Now Image attribution eflon The first page of your book is that first impression that doesn’t get a second chance. Whether your reader is a bookstore browser or an agent, the first page is the introduction to the story. Key elements of that introduction tell the reader about the story. Tone –…
A Roman Tutor in the Time of the Ostrogoths
Nikolaos and Argolicus The tutor, Nikolaos, plays a main role in the Argolicus Mysteries. He sees the world from a different and more worldly perspective than Argolicus, often noticing things the cerebral Argolicus misses. His role is traditional and at the same time unusual for the period. Argolicus is a high-standing Roman citizen but he…
3 Shortcuts to Learning Story
Read to Write Reading is the inspiration for many writers to begin their own, writing career. For me it was reading and meeting an author when I was five. That’s what I want to do, was my childhood thought. Creating stories seemed like such a magical way to live a life. As an adult, the…
The Geni.us of Going Global
Invite Global Readers to Get Your Books Geni.us creates links that send someone to the Amazon store nearest them. If you have a reader in the U.K., and they click the link, they will be taken to Amazon.uk not the U.S. store. The same for Japan, or Germany, or India, etc. For example, people in 21…
Research Before You Write The Story
Before The Outline The first round of research is background material for your story. You may be looking for settings, hidden alleys, a great beach. While an online search, will give you generic information, there’s nothing like going to the place of your story. You will discover details that no amount of online searching will…