Contemplating the transformation of our society since John’s world in 1844, I fell to thinking about more recent changes. I wondered what Molly and Zoë would make of 2013. (more…)
Tag: writing
Research for a Novel
It must have been very difficult to research the hard facts in a novel before the internet. Of course, not everything you read on the internet is true, but the gathering of initial ideas does not require slogging around libraries and buying reference books. (more…)
Software for Writers
However you intend to present your novel to the publisher, with modern word processors you can see it as it will appear in print. That is a great incentive. And the Open Source program Writer from OpenOffice.org is ideal. And free. (more…)
What’s a typewriter?
How did novelists manage without the word processor?
A minor character starts to develop into a recognizable human being, becoming a powerful mover and shaker, but he entered it small and insignificant several chapters back. (more…)
Romance in Crime Stories
Any hint of a love interest in the genre used to be pretty basic.
In the cozy whodunit type of book it served to define people, or provide a motive for the crime, or it was a red herring diverting our attention from the clues. (more…)
Why write?
Well, why write a book? Lots of work for days, months or even years for some, frustration when it doesn’t work, times of absolute boredom as your brilliant ideas convert to dross on the page. Why do it? (more…)