Broadly speaking, there are two types of mystery stories: whodunnits and whydunnits. We read a mystery story to find out who committed the crime (with the why, the motive, often serving to help the investigator find the culprit), or we read knowing from early on who the guilty party is as the story lays out the reasons, psychological and otherwise, […]
PERSONAL SAFETY: Artists, authors, musicians, crafters…if you’re in a creative business you need to get the word out about yourself and your work. People need to associate you with your product. As a marketing and “branding” professional, I spend a lot of time giving people advice on how to get “out there.” But today I want to take a step
Author Laura K. Curtis discusses what to do when you get stuck when the writing doesn’t flow.
The turnout for our January meeting on self-publishing was excellent and I hope everyone found the information useful. But one thing we didn’t really discuss is what self-publishing means in terms of a writing career. As writers, most of us rarely think beyond the book. We don’t like it. We want to think of ourselves as creatives, not business people.
This past Saturday, a number of MWA-NY members met to assemble the gift bags which will be given to all who attend our Winter Revels on December 2. Lots of swag—books and magazines, yes, but also a few surprises. With the gift bag, the food and drink, and the chance to congregate and indulge in convivial conversations, it’s safe to say
Author Joseph Goodrich poses the question: who are your influences?
All the lying and the hiding and the subtext of theater add up to the best elements of a good crime story. Many novelists, like David Mamet and Theresa Rebeck, have launched their novel-writing careers from a background in theater. Theater has taught them how to tell a story. Is it any surprise then that the most dramatic of novel
Author Laura K. Curtis gives some tips on achieving your word count and publishing goals.
Multi-award-winning Catriona McPherson shares with us some fun she had teaching a class on character, where she asked her students to dream up the worst cliched characters they could. She took six of the worst and wrote a piece of flash fiction in which they were featured.
As a writer of mysteries, I find myself, from time-to-time, challenged by readers to defend why I glorify crime. And when they realize that I write humorous mysteries, they are appalled that I make fun of murder. When my first book was published, even my mother announced, “Mysteries aren’t supposed to be funny.” One reader made it personal. Had your
