One of the first injunctions writers receive is to avoid the use of adverbs. Eliminate them all, if possible, we’re…
Any novel needs dramatic tension, but mysteries and thrillers need it even more than most. Tension, something unresolved and threatening…
I have been wrestling with this dilemma. I have a particularly powerful antagonist in Empty Luck. He is fully capable…
Recently, I was watching an episode of “Breaking Bad,” the Netflix series about a high school chemistry teacher who becomes…
One characteristic true of all good stories, whether found in a book, movie or play, is believability. If a character…
I have a tentative title now for my new book, Empty Luck. My main characters are four guys on vacation…
One piece of conventional wisdom in the writing trade is you must feature your protagonist in the first chapter. That…
Hmmm, the more time I spend with young Ricky Sullivan, the less inclined I am to kill him off. So…
How do the characters take shape? How do they come to life? I don’t always know ahead of time. For…
I’m just starting to put something down as a start to my third novel. It doesn’t even have a working…