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Cliffhanger endings: 3 reasons why they make readers mad
Mickey Spillane once said, “The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book.” Unfortunately, some authors interpret that truth as meaning they should end a book with a cliffhanger. There are (at least) 3 reasons why cliffhanger endings will make readers mad–and angry readers are less likely to read your next book. But before we get to that: This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are Ronel, Deniz, Pat Garcia, Olga Godim, and Cathrina Constantine. Stop by and leave them some comment love. Each…
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What creative activities do I do besides writing?
One of the things I love most about hanging out with writers and librarians (I am both), is that we’re a creative bunch. Writing is an inherently creative activity, yet writers will often have other creative hobbies as well. Ditto for librarians. As I’ve taken on leadership positions at work, I have less and less time for any creative work (including writing, sadly), but I still build creativity into my life where I can. So, what creative activities do I do besides writing? I’ll answer that in a minute, but first: This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every…
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Ghost and other horror stories (with gratuitous Halloween pics)
It’s finally October! ‘Tis the season for pumpkin spice, hoodies and cozy blankets1, chilly mornings2, horror stories, and scaring the crap out of neighborhood children before giving them free candy. This year we’re busy unpacking, but by the time next Halloween3 rolls around, kids in this neighborhood are going to wet their pants even thinking about coming to our door. Don’t believe me? This is what we did to our yard the last time we lived in a neighborhood that contained children: At night we added an orange flickering light to the wood under the fake leg for that realistic roasting-human-flesh look. I’m pretty sure the 6-year-old across the street–who’s…
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This post is the first thing I’ve written in a month
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How a 12th-grade English assignment convinced me I couldn’t write fiction
A long, long time ago1, in a galaxy far, far away2, a 12th-grade English assignment convinced me I couldn’t write fiction. Two disclaimers before I tell that story: And one more thing before we get to the story: For anyone who’s new here, this post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are Beth Camp, Jean Davis, Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando. Click those links and leave them some comment love. Each month our fearless leader (Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh) gives us an optional question to answer. This month’s…
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This post is the first thing I’ve written in a month
Greetings from Fresno, California! Your intrepid blogger has relocated from the Sonoran Desert to the San Joaquin Valley, trading 100+ degree temperatures for… more 100+ degree temperatures. Yeah. Anyway, I’m slowly settling into a new routine, and writing this month’s IWSG post is another step on that journey–writing again after a month of packing, cleaning, moving, learning a new place, starting a new job. It’s… a lot. But I’m still standing (or actually sitting–in my makeshift home office, typing out these words). For anyone who’s new here, this post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share…
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Ghost and other horror stories (with gratuitous Halloween pics)
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6 tools that power my writing life
Every writer has their own process for writing. Some of us are plotters, some are pantsers. Some write with music, others require silence. Some use Word, some Scrivener, some old souls even draft in longhand. We writers are all special snowflakes1, so we each tend to assemble our own writing toolboxes. In this post, I’ll share the contents of mine, the 6 tools that power my writing life. But first: This post is part of the IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) monthly blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are JS Pailly, Rebecca Douglass, Pat Garcia, Louise-Fundy Blue, and Natalie…
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Writing through the seasons of life
In my last IWSG post (2 months ago! Bad blogger!), I mentioned that there are seasons in life–times when we focus on career, family, side gigs, hobbies, or just taking care of ourselves. I also mentioned that I was and would continue to pull back from blogging for a little while because of exhaustion, work, and health challenges. All of that is still true two months later, only now I’ve jumped feet-first into a new adventure: I’m moving to California. Yep, you read that right. I’m saying goodbye to cactus and desert and monsoon storms and returning to the San Joaquin Valley where I grew up. And I’m learning that…
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20 years of blogging: a look back
As if I don’t feel old enough, I just realized I’ve been blogging for 20 years. 20 years! Now bring me my cane and get off my lawn. Wait, I live in Tucson. I don’t have a lawn. Dammit. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah–blogging. What prompted the painful observation that I’ve been blogging since Bush 2 was president? This month’s IWSG question (thanks so much, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh). In case you’re new here, the IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) is a monthly blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are T. Powell…
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Two ways fiction writers can use AI ethically
I’m going to do something I rarely do–make a prediction. I predict that AI is going to revolutionize our lives on a level nearly comparable to the internet and smartphones. And I’m going to go even further and predict this revolution will be (mostly) a good thing. Trust me, I hate the idea of AI-generated fiction and art as much as the next creative, and I don’t believe AI will replace writers and artists (though I do think plenty of AI-generated crap will get made and sold by unethical people). I do think writers (and maybe artists too) can find ethical ways to use AI to help them work more…
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What makes an author website great?
One of the first pieces of advice new authors get is to create a website. Our websites are our homes on the internet, a space we control and can use to promote ourselves and our work (unlike social media, over which we have little control–ask anyone who spent years building a following on the Site Formerly Known as Twitter only to see engagement plummet under He Who Must Not Be Named). But what makes an author website great? One way to answer that question is to provide examples of great websites and talk about what makes them work well–and that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this post. But…
Janet Alcorn
Suspense | Horror | Romance
