2013

It’s amazing how much better books can be when they’re under the full control of their authors. For example, here’s a new cover for The Funny Adventures of Little Nani, Cinta Garcia de la Rosa’s first published title. Cinta released charming collection of interactive stories for children in September 2012. While the cover features a […]

The reader as co-conspirator

Independent novel review: Head of Words Sometimes, you see where a novel is going and guess the surprise twist well before getting to it. Sometimes, if the writer is really good, it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the novel.In the case of Head of Words, I felt like a co-conspirator with author Chris […]

Sample Sunday: Boxing in the market

Image of “Thermae boxer,” National Museum of Rome, by Marie-Lan Nguyen (2009), used under  Creative Commons This Sample Sunday continues the series of action excerpts from The Bones of the Earth. This selection is from Part II: Tests. Here, the hero, Javor, meets for the first time a man who becomes his most valuable friend: Antonio. Javor stepped back […]

Congratulations, Mr. Trudeau, for expressing the antidote to negative political advertising we’ve been asking politician for, for decades now. P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:lin When Justin Trudeau was elected leader of the federal Liberal party in Canada a couple of weeks ago, the Conservative party launched negative attack ads against him personally within a couple […]

Action sample Sunday: The Avar horsemen

This week, I am again presenting a fan favourite: an action excerpt from my first book, The Bones of the Earth. This passage comes from Part 2: Tests. In this section, the hero, Javor — cast out of his own village because of his autism and tendency to attract trouble — and Photius, the mysterious […]

orange and black butterfly on green leaves

Commas are probably the most abused punctuation mark in English today, and probably the most overused, too. Here are a few tips to make them easier to use correctly. Commas separate parts of a sentence: Don’t leave out commas from your writing. They represent the pauses in speech, and give readers a chance to take […]

Guest post: How I landed publishers by choosing to self-publish

By Kristen Elise, Ph.D.P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:lin Here’s a secret: publishers love the self-publishing author. When Scott asked me to do a guest post about marketing for newbie novelists, my first reaction was, “I don’t know anything about marketing — I’m a newbie novelist myself.” Then I received two contract offers for my first […]