What do you do now that you have finished that great manuscript? Many believe you can simply start sending it out to agents or publishers sometimes even both. However this is simply not true, just because you have created this riveting tale, you cannot send it out and expect it to be published right then. No, there are many aspects to being published and even more frauds out there, where the only goal is to con you out of your money. Filling their pockets and leaving your...

My, my; what a Question, It truly depends on who the villain (ness) is. Are they related to the character? Have they always been around manipulating from the sidelines? Or are they someone who has recently appeared? It also depends on the type of personality they have. Are they outgoing, possibly highly influential or are they the type that hides and attacks when you back is turned. Yes you have to give the villain some type of background without going to far, you also to...

Wow I knew I put this question off for a reason. How to even begin? First, she has to be strong. I don't even mean strength wise; she has to have a strong constitution. Grit, personality, doesn't take anything from anyone, basically Emerald La Roe From my first book. She didn't take anything from no one and stood on her own two feet. Which of course if why her and Max didn't make it. You know Alfa male werewolf and all. Emerald was beautiful in her own way, yeah she ha...

Every once in a while a writer comes along that demands we take notice; one that avails just the right meter, tempo, and rhythm; one that can engulf us in a story and keep us glued throughout 200 pages; one that offers a style sure to be emulated by his aspiring peers, both of his generation and generations to come. Nelson Pahl is just that writer. With simultaneous debut releases, entitled Bee Balms & Burgundy and Two for Tuesday, Pahl flexes a literary muscle short in...

For over a decade, while I was developing my writing skills, I had the great good fortune to work at a large outdoor ethnic museum near Milwaukee called Old World Wisconsin. This historic site includes a crossroads village and ten working farmsteads, with restoration dates ranging from 1845 through 1915. Old World Wisconsin is a place where Interpreters get their hands dirty, so my knowledge of historical domestic and agricultural processes grew exponentially. I learned ho...

Paint the picture for your audience. The more you can create the setting?the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feelings?the more your audience will be drawn in. Remember, you want the experience to become their experience?something they can readily identify with. As a persuader, you?ve got to take them there. As you prepare yourself, keep in mind all the ways in which you can really produce a mental and emotional imprint. You want your prospects to see your story in the...

I hear it all the time from my students and at the seminars and workshops I lead. The writers that I work with are excited to work with a "real" writer. Most people define a "real" writer as one who is published. Therefore I, with three published novels and innumerable newspaper and magazine articles under my belt, certainly qualify. However, the longer I am involved in the business of professional writing and the teaching of writing the more I question that definition. Fo...

Anyone who writes knows this scenario at one time or another: You have something to say, great ideas to express. So, you go to the page only to find your mind has gone as blank as the sheet or screen before you. Paralyzed, you write not a word. Somewhere in the synapses of your imagination, you know there lives a fully formed novel, or story, or play, or even one single poem, but you cannot magnify it enough to see the individual words. So you leave it for another day?until...

What's it like to be a writer AND photographer? ReaderViews sat down with author Vicki Landes to talk about her new book, Europe for the Senses. ReaderViews: Thanks for talking with us today Vicki. We are interested to hear more about you, and your beautiful photography book ?Europe for the Senses: A Photographic Journal.? Would your start off by telling us what your book is about, and what you are trying to convey through the photos? Vicki: ?Europe for the Senses ?...

Becoming a successful travel writer involves some imagination, some legwork, and a powerful eye for detail to transform the rich experience of a place into a clear, exciting article. If you can do all of that, and if you're willing to put time into marketing your work, you can join the ranks of successful freelance travel writers. The key to successful travel writing is putting yourself into the mind of the prospective traveler. When a traveler arrives at a new destinati...