Plot Conceits that I Love to Hate Pas Deux

Plot Conceits that I Love to Hate Pas Deux

Having expanded on my top five plot conceits, I’d like to add another five that bother me to no end. Number 6. The obvious stakeout conceit. This conceit has many iterations, so I’ll share just a few of my favorites. The first is the stakeout in the car...
Plot Conceits I love to Hate

Plot Conceits I love to Hate

I have a major pet peeve about the conceits writers employ in fiction, especially suspense thrillers and mysteries. Let’s begin by defining what a plot conceit is: In drama and other art forms, a conceit of a work of fiction is the underlying fictitious...
A Word to the Wise—Caveat Emptor

A Word to the Wise—Caveat Emptor

If you’ve visited my blog you may have seen the post about my upcoming book, The Barbarian Queen of the North, The post featured an artist’s rendition of the lead character, Princess Alauna. I contracted to have this piece of art created by an artist in Great Britain,...
From Concept to Reality: Bringing Alauna to Life

From Concept to Reality: Bringing Alauna to Life

Princess Alauna is one of two main characters in my latest novel, The Barbarian Queen of the North. From the very beginning I had an idea of who she was and what she would look like. However, as I continued to write she acquired her own persona, seeming to become...
Pantsing–Writing by the seat of your pants

Pantsing–Writing by the seat of your pants

Read an article recently that addressed the topic of writing by the seat of your pants or pantsing (sounds like something you would do as a kid). Simply, it’s doing a mind dump on the page. Instead of agonizing over every word, every sentence, every paragraph—just...