Have you ever strolled through a museum and found yourself drawn to a painting or a sculpture? What attracted you? The beauty? The drama? Perhaps the serenity? Look closer. Ask questions. Suddenly, you may find the inspiration you’re looking for to fuel the plot, character, theme or setting for your novel....
Shake Up Your Story With Art!
Want to develop your character in more depth? Say you’ve got a secondary character who plays an important role in your plot, but who just doesn’t jump off the page. Describe how they respond to a work of art....
Demystifying BookBub: Sneak Preview from Stephanie Barko
If you've always wanted to do something with BookBub but didn't know where to start, this hour is for YOU. You really can become a bestseller on BookBub. You just need to know how to pitch an offer that appeals to their staff. In this one-hour presentation, I will show you how to get BookBub interested in featuring a single eBook from your body of work. After I give you the inside scoop on what staffers are looking for, you'll have an opportunity to query me and a historical novelist whose series debut became a bestseller from a BookBub campaign.
Researching History: Daunting, Challenging, and Fun
Unless you have a working time machine hidden away in your office, then you’re going to have to research if you’re writing historical fiction. Be it hitting the books, the Internet, interviewing historians or all of the above, researching the past can be daunting and challenging, but also a lot of fun...
Sharpening the Blade: Borrowing Elements from Mysteries to Craft Compelling Historical Fiction
With their life-and-death stakes, mysteries have had a profound narrative power since Wilkie Collins wrote The Moonstone in 1868. In a mystery, the reader often strongly identifies with the protagonist, an amateur sleuth or professional detective encountering clues and experiences simultaneously with the reader. As a result, both intellectually and emotionally, the protagonist and reader are, quite literally, on the … Continue reading Sharpening the Blade: Borrowing Elements from Mysteries to Craft Compelling Historical Fiction
