How mysterious and scary is your monster? If your monster were to come to life and get lost in your town, would people’s hair stand on end when they saw it? Would they stop whatever they were doing and run from it? Would it cause them to fear for their lives? How do you make…
The words your character just yelled are so very important, and you want to be sure those who will be reading your story notice them. How do you draw attention to those words? How do you convey their importance to your readers?
The English language can be so confusing at times. Aah, ah, ahh, aw, and awe are all pronounced the same—at least they are in the part of the country where I live—but each one has a different meaning. I know that I’ve used at least one of them in the wrong way before. Chances are,…
If something is creepy, it will cause a sensation of repulsion, horror, or fear. It’s sort of like when you look down at your arm and discover a huge ugly spider with fangs that are dripping with venom crawling on you. But not all creepy things are bugs. There are so many other things that…
Are you looking for idioms and words that can be used to set a creepy tone to your scene or story? Do you want to use words that will send shivers up your readers’ spines? Is it your desire for those who hold your book in their hands to be frozen with fear? Will they…
Originally, I’d intended to call the book After the Fall. However, that is the title of a play by Arthur Miller and more than one other novel. My publisher advised me to go for a unique title. But why Escape to Redemption? The “escape” part is straightforward. After committing a crime, Josie flees to Poland.…
Eat your heart out—what does this phrase really mean? Wouldn’t it be kind of gross to rip a heart out of someone else’s chest and eat it? Yuck! And you certainly wouldn’t want to eat your own heart. Where did this phrase come from? Once you know its origins and true meaning, you should be…
Before she begins to write, how completely does she plan out her characters and her book? What does she enjoy most about writing? What is her biggest fear as a writer? Was there any particular thing or event that inspired you to write these books? I think the initial, fundamental idea of the story (revenge…
