Back when we released the first of our Shadow Conspiracy anthologies, we ran a spoof April Fool’s Day sendup, Zombie View News. It included a blurb about my genesis story, “The Accumulating Man” . It read, in part: “I have … Continue reading
”Crime doesn’t pay…enough” is the motto of Mystery Writers of America (MWA), an organization I joined after the publication of my debut mystery-adventure novel, THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER (from Pegasus Crime). The first thing I discovered about MWA was that it … Continue reading
I’ve got a writing exercise for ya.’ I’m hopeful it will put ideas into your head. It requires reverse engineering something, in this case, greeting cards. Those new any occasion cards with blank interiors are the best for this. Here’s … Continue reading
Superheroes! Steampunk! High-stakes adventure! Cool characters fighting implacable enemies for the fate of the world while they’re battling their own demons! If you like any or all of those things in your reading, Archangel: Ascensionhas it all. I was very … Continue reading
Dutifully and cheerfully answering the call from Mystery Writers of America (NorCal Chapter) I will be among the authors signing and chatting at the Grand Opening of the brand new and very shiny Barnes & Noble at The Veranda shopping … Continue reading
My first novel was also my first experience trying to create a fantasy world from the ground up. With Tolkien as my only model, I waded hip deep into Scottish history and Auld English linguistics to come up with character, clan, place and object names for my fantasy trilogy, The Mer Cycle.
Here’s what I learned: whatever names I use, it pays to simplify their spelling wherever possible.
Continue readingA sense of place plays a critical role in determining whether a reader “gets into” a story or not. Good place names can lend an aura of reality to even the most fictional of places. Conversely, an obviously made up place name in a story that pretends at reality can make a location that seems perfectly real to the author seem perfectly ridiculous to the reader.
Continue readingWhat if the name hadn’t been “James Bond”? What if the name Ian Fleming gave his super spy had been “Crane, Ichabod Crane?”
Continue readingHere’s a question for you, Dear Reader. What publisher would have taken Bram Stoker seriously if his villain had swept onto the page and said, in sepulchral tones, “I am Count Humperdink. I want to drink your blood”?
Continue readingHello, my name is Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and I’m a recovering research-aholic. I know that research addiction is common among writers of speculative fiction (genres that begin with ”what if…?”). This doesn’t mean there aren’t writers who hate research with … Continue reading
