I like to evolve as a writer. I like to learn what works and what doesn’t for me to produce the best work possible, with efficiency, and without sacrificing craft. I always thought I couldn’t write more than 1k words a day and be able to do it consistently. But I’ll get back to that…
Captive Lies was a “turning point” book. I wanted to explore my writing voice, to see where I could improve and to figure out what could be holding me back. I have always written what I wanted which was why quitting my day job wasn’t in my immediate future. 😉 Let me backtrack a bit….
Thanks to a tip-off from a good friend of mine, I was able to attend my first writer’s conference right here in Richmond. My first impression was, Boy, there’re so many serious-looking writers. I thoroughly enjoyed the humor and charisma of speakers Brad Parks and Christopher McDougall (author of Born to Run). I was kind…
What a journey it has been! I have published my first book in April this year, followed by a novella and a short story and will be publishing my second full-length novel in October. Through it all, I have learned a lot: from the reviews of my books (both from readers and editors) and through…
When a book like Silver Fire has to juggle three over-the -top Alpha males (Derek, Jack and Viktor) and then some, I can’t help but use the word “growled” in a lot of dialogues. How else can you say: “You’re mine!” he growled. However, my editor has a point, I did a word count for “growled”…
I’m getting ready to re-plot my second book. I had a story fixer look at my plot outline and I had realized a few home truths: I had too many villains that my story could rival ‘24′ … Â after all my next heroine is a brilliant nuclear scientist and not Jack Bauer. And although my…
After I got my manuscript back from my editor, I noticed that most of his corrections were my inconsistencies of when to spell out numbers. There is no fixed rule about this, I think it is largely dependent on the standards of a publishing house. For a self-published author, it is important to establish that…
As a reader, I’m not much for endless details or filler chapters, but I do realize that sometimes they are needed pace the story. I do not like to read about pages and pages about a character’s clothes or a certain location. This triggers my automatic skimming. However, I do appreciate specific details and this…
When I become interested in something, it almost becomes an obsession. I read/buy books, I buy the best tools—everything needs to be top-notch—I try to go to classes when I could. Fortunately, in novel writing, you just need your writing tool—this could be your computer or if you are still old-style … a typewriter. The…
I had dabbled in writing since maintaining a food blog for over six years. Tackling a novel is a whole new ballgame. Wait, let me backtrack a little. I’ve always been a dreamer. I remembered my early childhood when my father always scolded me for being absent-minded. Even then I would think up scenarios in…