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Archive for November, 2009

Writing is a lot like Life

Posted in Quotes, Writers, tagged , on November 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Source: Novel Journey: Author Interview ~ Terry Brennan.
Writing is a lot like life. Enjoy the journey. And let God handle the details.

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Terms that cannot be used in a Steeple Hill novel

Posted in Lists, Reference, Terms and Definitions, Voice, tagged , , , on November 18, 2009 | 4 Comments »

Source: Terms that cannot be used in a Steeple Hill novel.
[Update: The link above no longer works. Harlequin has taken the page down as reported by Ted Dekker. Read comment #2 for the history behind this post.]
Terms that cannot be used in a Steeple Hill novel:

Arousal
Bastard
Bet/betting
Bishop
Bra
Breast (except for breast cancer if necessary)
Buttocks or butt (alternatively, you [...]

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Grammar for First Lines

Posted in First Lines, Grammar, Quotes, tagged , , , , on November 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

You should already know to avoid adverbs throughout your writing, but did you know there are some sneaky ones that don’t end in ‘ly’? For examply, the word “this” can function as an adverb. (See: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/this)
Everybody go ‘Boo! Hiss!’.
So here are three grammar rules for first lines that I’ve gleaned from my sources and distilled [...]

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The Most Popular Christmas Toys 1960-2008

Posted in Reference, tagged , , , , , , on November 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Source: Permuto Discoveries » The Most Popular Christmas Toys, By Year Since 1960.
(Since the image is so tall, I’ll leave my comments here.)
A very interesting image, don’t you think? I bet more than a few writers would have loved having this in front of them when they were writing a period piece.
Oh, and did you [...]

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The Opening Chapter Difficulty

Posted in First Chapters, Quotes, tagged , , on November 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Source: Finding Hope Through Fiction: TEN GIVE AWAY OPPORTUNITIES – NORA INTERVIEWS ACE COLLINS.
I think the most difficult part of any book is the opening chapter. Every word has to count. You have to draw readers in and get them interested in the characters and the plot. Hence, I spend more time working with the [...]

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Five Tips For Writing Reviews

Posted in Quotes, Reviews, tagged , on November 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »

Source: Thoughts on Marketing « A Christian Worldview of Fiction.
But here are a few things I’ve come to believe about reviews:

They don’t have to trash books, even the ones that are less than great or maybe even terrible. Writing, after all, isn’t easy, and the author of the book should be respected for his efforts.
Reviews [...]

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