Criminal Minds: What Happened to Jack and Jill on That Hill? Twenty Writing Prompts from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: What Happened to Jack and Jill on That Hill? Twent...: Does a background in any other kind of business give you a head start as a professional writer? If you were designing a course of study for ...

Criminal Minds: Claiming the Title of Writer from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: Claiming the Title of Writer from James W. Ziskin: In Lucy Worsley’s biography of Agatha Christie, we learned that Christie always wrote “married woman” in the “occupation” line on her passpo...

Criminal Minds: Six Bits of Writing Advice from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: Six Bits of Writing Advice from James W. Ziskin: This week’s topic asks us to offer writing tips for absolute beginners. TOUGH LOVE 1. Take your writing seriously Treat it as if it’s a job....

Criminal Minds: How Many Books Does My Mother Need to Buy to Make Me a Bestselling Author? from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: How Many Books Does My Mother Need to Buy to Make ...: The latest wisdom is that trekking to bookstores with your new book isn’t the best use of time in today’s market. So, what do you think work...

Criminal Minds: Publishing. It’s strictly business by Gabriel Valjan

Criminal Minds: Publishing. It’s strictly business by Gabriel Valjan:   There were two pieces of music playing inside my head while I was writing this short essay on what I LOVE and HATE about...

Criminal Minds: Come Rain or Shine from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: Come Rain or Shine from James W. Ziskin: Do you use weather in your books to create atmosphere or mood? Talk to us about meteorology. This month we’ve been given a choice of two que...

Criminal Minds: Superman or Batman? from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: Superman or Batman? from James W. Ziskin: Which side of the fence are you most comfortable writing from, the good, the bad, or the ugly? Do you consider one side or the other more ma...

Criminal Minds: Remembering Paul D. Marks

Criminal Minds: Remembering Paul D. Marks:   Eric Campbell,  from Down and Out Books, said yesterday: " Earlier this week we lost a great talent in the world of crime fiction. Pa...

Criminal Minds: Devil in the Details by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: Devil in the Details: How much scrutiny do you or an attorney give a contract, and have you ever realized after you signed that you left something on the table? F...

Criminal Minds: An Attitude of Gratitude by Paul D. Marks

Criminal Minds: An Attitude of Gratitude: How do you decide who to acknowledge and who to dedicate a book to, and have you ever had an awkward moment in making an “in” or “out” decis...

Criminal Minds: Know What You Don’t Know from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: Know What You Don’t Know from James W. Ziskin: Today I’m going off topic in order to write about the release of a short story of mine next week. But, so as not to neglect this week’s ques...

Criminal Minds: Sometimes Less is More by Paul D. Marks.

Criminal Minds: Sometimes Less is More: How do you handle sex in your books? Or, if you don’t, why not? by Paul D. Marks Well, there’s sex and there’s sex. No, I don’t write reall...

Criminal Minds: Is Dad Reading This? by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: Is Dad Reading This?: How do you handle sex in your books? Or, if you don’t, why not? From Frank Okay, full disclosure here - this question was posed to the group...

Criminal Minds: Way Back Then... by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: Way Back Then...: Tell us about the first story/stories you ever wrote. First book, published or no. From Frank I've known I was a writer from a very youn...

Criminal Minds: What Can Keith Jarrett and Maurice Ravel Teach Us about Writing Craft? from James W. Ziskin

Criminal Minds: What Can Keith Jarrett and Maurice Ravel Teach Us ...: Since I traded with Catriona last week—she had Laura Jensen Walker as a guest blogger—I’m answering last week’s question. Do you think about...

Criminal Minds: Hot Off the Press! by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: Hot Off the Press!: Business: Talk about newsletters.  Do you or do not have one? If you do, how often do you send it out? On what venue? How did you get your ...

Criminal Minds: I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours: Lately, some authors on social media are saying that it’s time authors shared details about their book contracts and income to break open th...

Criminal Minds: Hey, Nunya! by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: Hey, Nunya!: Business: Lately, some authors on social media are saying that it’s time authors shared details about their book contracts and income to bre...

Criminal Minds: Should You Care? by Frank Zafiro

Criminal Minds: Should You Care?: Craft: Do characters need to be sympathetic? Why? Why not? Does it make a difference in different genres? From Frank Short answer? No,...

Criminal Minds: Who's Hiding Behind Your Characters? by Paul D. Marks

Criminal Minds: Who's Hiding Behind Your Characters?: Do you ever base characters on real people? Famous or people you know in your real life. And, if so, how do you deal with that? by Paul D....