Paris is an unsolved puzzle. She inspires me in a way that other places don’t. And she demands more of me. Just try to write about her without bumping into cliche after cliche.
MWA and The Author’s Guild refused to accept me as a member.
In my novels, there are twelve ancient ‘memory tools,’ all now lost. Each of the ‘Reincarnationist’ books revolves around a different tool.
The marketability, the success of a book, ultimately rests with whether or not people will find the concept/characters/title/cover appealing.
It’s so easy to look foolish online.
Find out if your radio interviewer has read your book, or you are going to have to do that part of the job on air. It’s okay if they haven’t, but it’s always better to be prepared for what’s coming.
‘Power Play’ is a morality tale for our post-Enron world and – not incidentally – wildly entertaining. Nothing wrong with that.
As a general rule, when you comment on a blog, make it knowledgeable or witty and, most of all, relevant to that post – then, simply sign it with your name and your book title. Resist the urge to brag or sell your book.
Here’s an idea: Spend two or three hours a day at least five days a week in front of a bookstore wearing a sandwich board with your bookcover on it while you chase and chat with anyone you can corral and who is willing to talk to you.
The most satisfying thrillers send ordinary people into battle against the forces of evil – otherwise known as greed, ego, rage, fear and laziness – and bring them out bloodied but whole.
Nora Roberts, Stephen King, Lee Child and George R. R. Martin write wildly different books. Their writing, plotting and styles have little or nothing in common. But they all write books and characters that readers find appealing.
Ask your editor or ask your agent to find out what the house’s goals are for your book before it comes out. Get some sense of expectations so you are prepared.
I just want to sit in my room and write books.
I know one writer who has been subscribing authors without their permission and sending out what she thinks are helpful advice sheets, but they come off as if she’s a know-it-all. She thinks she’s marketing herself and her work. All she’s really doing is turning readers off.
A mystery is a whodunit. You know what happened, but not how or who’s behind it. A thriller, or a suspense, is a howdunit. You know what happened, and you usually know who did it, but you keep reading because you want to know how they pulled it off.
Social media buzz can lead to huge successes when people spread the word about something they love and want to share. But authors creating their own buzz? Making their own noise? It’s hard to make a lot of noise on our own about our own work. Except, sadly, negative noise.
They say every writer really just writes about one thing over and over. I guess my one thing is how the past impacts the present.
If no one knows your book is out there, no one will think about buying it. It’s as simple as that.
Sometimes what you mustn’t do is just as just as important as what you must do.
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