Recent Blog Posts

Fiction

Building Compelling Characters

river-1754862_640

How do we build characters our readers want to follow? How do we engage the reader at an emotional level to where she will want to stay with them through the entire story? There are a slew of books, articles, workshops, podcasts and other forums that address this element. Let …

Read Post

Why Is This Character in the Book?

This is a question I ask myself quite often. As a pantser, I tend to introduce characters as I write along in the story. Sometimes they ‘re minor characters who are only in for one scene to provide info, add some comic relief, or increase tension and conflict. Or a …

Read Post

Upcoming Release

Hi. It’s me, Rachel Stone. While Henry’s off doing “research,” I decided to hijack his blog and give you the real scoop on his upcoming release, Riverbend Justice. If you’re like me, you’re probably thinking it’s about time he got around to releasing book two of the Riverbend Sagas. Although, …

Read Post

A Journey Through History

Debbie Lynne Costello has enjoyed writing stories since she was about eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina. She …

Read Post

Journeys Within Journeys

Frequently, when speaking with readers and other writers, the subject of theme or message comes up. What is the message of the story? What themes run through the story? What does the story say about the human condition? Themes are not always blatant or obvious. If they are, it may …

Read Post

Why Did You Kill that Character?

The writer’s life does not take place in a vacuum. Especially if your work is published. Suddenly, there is a community of readers who have questions about the story and why did certain things happen. Why Did You Kill Old Thomas A frequent question I’ve received is why, in Journey …

Read Post

Love and the Author

Over the weekend, I was meditating on the love scripture in 1st Corinthians 13 and comparing it to what an author does. We profess to love our characters but… Love is patient. The author is not patient with his characters. He moves them quickly from one crisis to another. He …

Read Post

The Write Conversation

This week, I am honored to be posting a guest blog on Edie Melson’s The Write Conversation. My subject: Being a Perfectionist Writer. Here’s the link: http://ow.ly/Bq2B5 

Read Post

Join Me on the Journey

I am excited to announce the launch of my redesigned website. My goal is to offer quality information to readers, writers, and those who want to be writers. The desire to write has been in my heart since I first learned to read. It began to produce fruit in 2002, …

Read Post