Write Dialogue That Grabs Your Reader

Deep, thought-provoking characters are one of the keys to grabbing your reader by the eyeballs causing them to postpone putting that book down. Flawed characters with life-like problems capture a reader’s empathy. Great characters make for great stories. The way they speak and communicate is the portal to their past and their soul. Continue reading

Work like a Sculptor to Create a Great Story

Creating and writing a novel is akin to being a sculptor. Sculpture is, of course, the branch of visual arts utilizing all three dimensions. There are a great many techniques and materials sculptors have used throughout the ages. The media available to sculptors is varied and unlimited. Stone, metal, ceramics, wood and a variety of others.

Writing is the creation of three-dimensional characters and life-like stories in your reader’s minds. It is mental sculpting. The writer is the artist. Continue reading

The Rewards of Becoming a Writer

What does it take to become a writer?

The obvious and simple answer is to write something. The second step is to take what you have written and get it published. That means bringing it to the masses. Put it out there for others to read, to learn from, to enjoy and possibly criticize. Continue reading

Telegraphing vs. Foreshadowing

One of the most common mistakes inexperienced writers make when they write is telegraphing. Telegraphing occurs when the author reveals what is going to happen before it actually happens. It kills the suspense you have worked so hard to create.

You have spent countless hours crafting your plot, creating hazards and traps for your protagonist and putting them in seemingly inescapable situations. Don’t let telegraphing happen to you. Continue reading

Transform Your Heroes for a Stronger Plot

Our heroes are the lifeblood of our stories. They are the engine that makes our plots run. We all rely on dependable transportation. And for that reason, most of us take care to make sure our cars and their engines are diligently cared for and free from flaws. Continue reading

A Spring Day in College Sealed My Fate

It was a bright, clear spring day in New England in 1985. I was a third year pharmacy student at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy on Longwood Avenue. The school is situated in the Fenway section of Boston directly across the street from Harvard Medical School (I mention this because I want you to think that some of that intelligence rubbed off or was in the air and I inhaled large doses of it!) and near Emerson College, the Berklee College of Music and, of course, Fenway Park. I remember it quite clearly because it was day I decided that someday I would be a writer of novels. This epiphany occurred in the school library on the second floor of the main building. Continue reading

Five Things to Remember about Publishing Your Fiction

1. It’s an incredibly subjective industry…

Even number one New York Bestsellers have folks that have read their books and do not like their stories. The key, obviously, is to have more people wanting to read your stories than not. I once read that if you anonymously submitted a John Grisham manuscript to fifty publishing houses, some would love it, some would have a lukewarm reaction and the others would hate it. Continue reading

Writing Your Novel: How the bird outside my window teaches us a lesson in writing and life…

Every morning when I wake, I trudge to the bathroom to empty my bladder. It is a daily activity most of us take for granted.

The house Anne and I live in was built with a standard window in the bathroom was positioned low enough to allow an unobstructed and fully-detailed vista into the bathroom, right over the tank of the toilet. If left without a treatment or a blind, the aperture would allow an unobstructed glimpse at my daily urinary activity. Since the neighbor’s house sits quite close and several of its windows are situated in fortuitous positions, if someone next door were up and about and looking out at just the opportune time, their day and their appetite for breakfast would be ruined. Continue reading

Sneak a Peek: The Cyclops Revenge

Jason Rodgers returns and is thrust back into a world of shadows, suspense and intrigue as the dark international forces from Rodger’s past seek retribution and to wreak havoc in this riveting sequel to David Perry’s national bestseller, The Cyclops Conspiracy. . .
The Cyclops Revenge will put you back on the edge of your seat and take you on an incredible, breath-holding adventure. Read on for an excerpt from bestselling author David Perry’s latest thriller. . . Continue reading