Hello all. Today’s interview is with R. F. Bruce, author of The Life and Times of Dinah Marton. (Before reading the interview, you might want to read my review of the book first. Read it here.) About R. F. Bruce: Although Bruce is an avid writer, professionally he is a video game design instructor for a…
R.F. Bruce’s The Life and Times of Dinah Marton is the story of a multiple murderer. So let me start by telling you that I’ve never seen a single episode of Dexter, what I’m told is a series about a “good” serial killer. On the other hand, I have seen Downfall, the 2004 movie about…
[Note: This post was originally published on the Writers’ Co-op page back in February. I was going to post it here too at the time, but I guess I was just too depressed to bother. Sorry about that. ] Well, my publisher just called it a day, announcing a couple of weeks ago that Bookkus…
Let me begin with a disclaimer (or maybe an excuse) – I don’t read a lot of crime/mystery novels, so please read on with that in mind. My experience in this genre is limited to Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse series, Johnson’s Longmire books, and Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novels. That’s it. Of course, I’ve also…
Let me start with a disclaimer – I’m not all that familiar with recent Young Adult genre fiction. Prior to reading Paolo Bacigalupi’s Ship Breaker, and The Drowned Cities, the most recently published YA book I’ve read was Spacemen, Go Home by Milton Lesser, the last in the Winston Science Fiction YA series, published in…
Note: Prostitute of State has now been published! Visit Amazon and get yourself a copy! [NOTE: Prostitute of the State by Kate Kinnear is a free read posted on Bookkus.com. It has not yet been accepted for publication. So it’s not been editorially reviewed, and you will come across the occasional typo or rare…
Hello All, Welcome to my interview with Michael R. Hagan, author of the paranormal thriller DEMIURGE, Blood of the Innocent, published by Bookkus Publishing. Just for full disclosure, I’ve know Mike for a few years, since meeting him on Book Country, the writer’s web site. We’ve posted comments, along with many others, helping each other…
Post 24 Character Development – Keeping notes. My first bit of advice about character development is simple – keep notes. Especially if you want to write a story laden with multiple characters it’s very important to strive for consistency in characterization. I know, I know… we’ve all read and seen stories where the coward suddenly…
The last don’t do I want to discuss for now is really simple – don’t steal plots. Every so often I come across a posted story that elicits a sense of déjà vu as I continue to read. Then it strikes me – this is just (put title of famous novel or movie here) rehashed…
Don’t forget to do your homework. Huh? Aren’t we talking about writing? Yes, we are, and by homework I mean research. Even fiction requires that you present the reader with a sense that you know what you are talking about. Small slips are common in writing, especially anachronisms. In Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar, Act II, Scene…