Guest post: written by Dreanne X   Where do you see yourself in ten years? Do you see yourself sitting at a kitchen table in a new house with a steaming mug of coffee? You may be conquering the writing career of your dreams. Or maybe you want to be respected or financiallyContinue Reading

Wait, what?! Do you want to make a monster? Are you out of your mind? Why intentionally seek trouble? Don’t you like some peace and quiet?  Before you storm off in disbelief, hear me out… We’re not about trying to create some real-life Godzilla in some sinister underground laboratory somewhere. What IContinue Reading

I’m introducing the guest post of Clara Godwin-Suttie about Georges Simenon. I’m familiar with his work; I read the first book about Maigret when I was 12-13. Currently, I’m reading his biography, The Mystery of Georges Simenon, written by Fenton Bresler (a second-hand book – the last one – I got viaContinue Reading

 Why do we love reading mystery and crime?  escaping from the dull reality/routines, fear mixed with passion: we live in a world where more than 400,000 people die from homicide each year we identify ourselves with the detective and, as a result, seem stronger, feel more courageous, or smart an exercise forContinue Reading

famous writers writing advice

I just finished reading the book, Beautiful Writers by Linda Sivertsen. She runs the Book Mama website and the Beautiful Writers Podcast. In the book, she shares her writing journey and sparks each page with remarkable and honest advice from famous authors we admire. As a young writer in Los Angeles, Linda SivertsenContinue Reading

#guestpost written by Laolu Ogundele  “So, what’s your style”? Someone once asked me in the middle of a neighborhood writers meetup I attended a decade or so ago. “Straight jeans, dark-colored zip hoodies, and basketball shoes…” I began, but my voice trailed off as I noticed a couple of people try hardContinue Reading

#Keytakeaways from the book “BECOMING a WRITER” by Dorothea Brande (first published in 1934, currently republished) Dorothea Brande was teaching a creative writing course. Her focus was: a) the imaginative power of the writer’s mind; b) the belief that “genius can be taught.”  PART II #1 On Imitation You can imitate butContinue Reading

Today’s post is about Chaim Potok’s book, The Chosen, which I consider an excellent read as well as great studying material – for all of us: writers, booklovers, nerdy teenagers, religious folks, even conscious non-believers. I have to admit, I fell in love with this novel when I read an introduction byContinue Reading

We chatted with John W. Howell about his new novel Eternal Road: The final stop, the transformation of the heroes, and the meaning behind historical and supernatural elements. 1. What is the significance of the book’s title Eternal Road? The title came to me one day while I was writing one ofContinue Reading

No book worth its salt is meant to put you to sleep, it’s meant to make you jump out of bed in your underwear and run and beat the author’s brains out. Bohumil Hrabal, Czech novelist There’s a book called Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures from E. M. Forster,Continue Reading