𝐴 𝐾𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑠𝑎𝑘𝑒 by Ellery Adams and Parker Riggs features a haunted antique doll whose owner rides on the final…
Read more →What activities come to mind when you think about lakes? Sailing, fishing, picnicking, swimming, water skiing, or just hanging out…
Read more →The Quinstons and their cat, Silver, have finally settled into their home in Bluffington Hills. They are looking forward to…
Read more →Adding new words to my vocabulary is something I really like to do. Since I like learning new words so…
Read more →Flowers are beautiful, and their lovely smell can brighten your day. Plenty of flowers can be seen at weddings as…
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You are preparing to go on vacation. Are you going away or aweigh? When you chop down a tree do you use an ax or an acts? The drinks need to be kept chilled. Do you put them on ice or on eyes? avocation, vocation An avocation is a hobby, a diversion, or a distraction. Our doctor’s…
Clowns, the devil, being buried alive, being the last man on earth. Do any of those things scare you? Fans of horror fiction, get ready for some truly horrifying tales. “Observation Room 5”This first story opens with a guy in a hospital room. In isolation in a hospital room. What happened? Well, he was a…
A fresh cup of coffee is in front of you, your cigarette is burning, the laptop is open, and its blank screen is staring back at you. We’ve all been there. You are ready to write, but nothing, not even one word, pops into your head. You spend hours raking your brain to no avail.…
Who will be around when the end of the world comes? This question was answered for one man when he found himself alone in a world of zombies. Fighting for survival, fighting for every bit of food he could find, he was still alive. But he was alone, and he was lonely. Yes, there were…
A redundant expression is an expression where each word in the expression means basically the same thing. For example: If you attend the opening, you will receive a free gift. Free gift is a redundant expression. Think about that for a moment. A gift is something that is given to you at no charge. When something is free,…
Looking for some way to make your character unique? Some way to make him or her stand apart from all of the other characters that have been created? Maybe your search for just the right quirk to give your character has not been as successful as you would like. Have you considered giving your character…
Momo is hiding in every picture in this book. Can you find him? Find Momo: A Photography Book is so much more than a book full of pretty pictures taken by Andrew Knapp, a very talented photographer. It is not easy to get animals to cooperate when you are taking their picture. Since Momo is…
Would you be protected by arches or archers? Would an area or an aria be sung in an opera? Does a knight wear armoire or armor? Would you hire three assistance or three assistants to help you with your work? Do you have to write an assay or an essay for your history class? arches,…
Emotions are any of the feelings of joy, sorrow, fear, hate, love, etc. We all experience these emotions, but we each react to them in our own individual way. Still, there are some similarities in how we let others know we are sad, depressed, angry, happy, etc. How Your Characters React Emotionally What about your…
The English language is full of confusing words, and they become even more confusing when you don’t always see them used the right way. Lead and led are two words that are often used the wrong way. He lead the horse to the stall. He led the horse to the stall. Which one of the…
The “giraffe women” have always fascinated me. Why would any woman allow heavy brass rings to be placed around her neck? Why would any woman submit her young daughter to such a thing? A lot of it depends on the culture you were raised in, and what you were taught to believe. The Padaung women…
Hidden fears, especially when they come from the dark side of religion, cripple the human personality. Medicine women, the powerful female healers in The Unholy, know how to help a person face these fears. Religion-induced fears come during waking and sleeping time. Nightmares of a religious nature often betray horrid pasts replete with church-bound guilt,…
Claire lives in Aztlan, a land of magic. Haunted by memories of her mother’s violent death that she witnessed when she was only five years old, Claire is now twenty-five. The time has come to make a final decision about whether or not she wishes to follow in her mother’s footsteps, in the footsteps of…
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but it is up to the author to write those thousand words. (Richard Petracca) The road winds gracefully amidst the trees. Is this all you see when you look at the picture? Or does your mind go wild thinking of what could be at either end…
Phobias are constant, irrational fears that afflict some people. Their fear should be taken seriously. The person should never be made fun of or belittled because of their fear. But as writers, we can bless (or curse) our characters with phobias and make the story so much more interesting. What happens if someone encounters the…
Did you realize that lightning and lightening have different meanings? I used to think that either one could be used to describe the flashing light show that takes place during a thunderstorm. Then I took the time to look up the word lightening and discovered just how wrong I was. The lesson learned? Don’t ever…
Let me give you a picture of how this novel Watch the Shadows began. We were sitting by the fireplace at night, stroking the cats on our laps, and I was thinking about science fiction horror novels and movies, considering what in my own life would most terrify me. I realized that the common thread…
The homeless people in Isla Vista, California are disappearing. The ducks are vanishing from the park, and the rats are disappearing. The disappearance of the rat population is a welcome thing, but the ducks? A homeless man searches through the trash for food. The piece of meat he finds isn’t exactly what he had expected…
How much research had to be done for this book? How did he decide on the title? Why did he create his own publishing company? What kind of books does he like to read? How long did it take you to complete this book? I started it in 2006, and the last draft, #5, took…
Does your worst day even begin to compare with the day that Ian is about to have? Ian’s life goes from bad to worse when he walks into a coffee shop located inside a bank to apply for a job. While he is filling out the application, the bank is robbed by the infamous Busty…
The month of April is full of crazy and unique holidays. Here are some that take place on April 7 for you to consider including in your writing. Will you find a family of beavers to observe on International Beaver Day? How many newspapers will you read on International Snailpapers Day? Will you take a…
Nothing exciting ever happens in the life of the president of a company that specializes in bugs for organic gardening. Right? Wrong. An innocent night with a sexy lady bug sends him on a race to find her killer before he is locked up for the crime. Patton Burch is the president of BedBugs, a…
“Literary” is a type of book many people admire, but it’s not a genre that people necessarily seek. It’s even hard to call it a genre the way “mystery,” “romance,” and “paranormal” might be. Books that appear on Amazon’s literary bestseller list, for example, reveal how widely defined “literary” really is. For instance, this week,…
Does he feel the importance of having a great vocabulary is being ignored? What was the inspiration for these short stories? What advice does he have for writers who are striving to be published? You have an impressive vocabulary. Did you have to work hard at learning the meanings of all these words, or did…
