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There are many, many things for the prudent author to consider when naming a character. I’ve blogged about some of them before. I’m writing a long series of novels (the first one will be out this month!!) and have been … Continue reading
Category Archives: Characters
Looking back on all the blather I’ve produced in this blog space over the past year, I realize I am compiling a “CliffNotes” version of novel research. It occurs to me that I should cite my sources—most of which originate … Continue reading
I love houses. I love to write about them. Houses heavily influence my fiction because they so easily become characters. Sometimes the house in my book insists on upon development, an emotional arc. It wants me to tell my readers … Continue reading
While discussing writing with a good—and excellent—writing friend, I felt inspired to write shorts again. The thing is, I had no ideas. That said, I remembered something a writer wrote about writing some years ago, paraphrased as “writing is like … Continue reading
(Picture from here.) By now it cannot be a secret that I like small stories. These are stories where there might be a major cataclysm, catastrophe, war or other great event but that is backdrop. It might impact the story and … Continue reading
I love historical fiction, reading it and writing it. (See my bookstore page for two novels set in the 20th century.) Historicals can safely be fat books; I mean the grounding necessary in any novel where the world needs to … Continue reading
I’ve been thinking of a lot this week about the plague, but again, I’m not going to write about it today because, well, everyone is thinking about it. It’s all weird and the first of a thing anyone in my … Continue reading
From small things do bigger things grow — cubs into lions, acorns into oaks, ideas into stories and then collections of stories and then worlds. Some time ago a friend tossed me an idea “challenge” — a story about a … Continue reading
Auntie Deborah is back at her advice desk… I’ve been told that as a new writer I should write what I know. How can I apply this to writing a historical novel? Auntie Deborah: First of all, that old saw … Continue reading
Dear Auntie Deborah: Help! My characters have gone amok and won’t follow the plot of my book! What can I do to whip them into shape? — A Frustrated Author Dear Frustrated: The short (but brutal) answer is that your characters … Continue reading