Where do authors get ideas for stories? So often at book events, people ask me
this question. I’m tempted to say it’s Divine inspiration, luck, or even something magical. But it’s not!! I have to admit that I can’t “force” an idea to come forward no matter how hard I try. There are some steps I take to …
Years ago, when I was a prosecutor, I tried a case of sexual assault on two young girls, aged nine and eleven. A live-in boyfriend of their mother was accused—he denied everything. We had problems at the trial, but now there is help for sexual assault victims.
At the trial, the girls, in front of a court room …
A friend of mine has a brother, Antonio, who was attacked and beaten badly. He spent two weeks in the hospital. And went through surgeries to put his face back in the correct shape. He will live but with permanent damages—both physical and psychological.
The police captured and charged a suspect right away. but now, ten months later, …
As you probably already know—there are two things that make a great book: an engaging plot and interesting characters. So how does a writer create memorable characters?
1. The character must want or better yet, need something. This need will be so strong that it drives the character (and reader) through the story. If the character needs something …
At the Edina Art Center in Minnesota, I host a program called “The Author’s Studio.” We’re starting our fourth year. I interview local authors from a variety of genres in front of a live audience while it’s filmed for TV and YouTube. It’s been fun and I’ve worked hard to introduce good writing and fascinating authors to the …
I host a program at the Edina Art Center in Minnesota called, The Author’s Studio. I interview local authors from a variety of genres. It’s great fun for me and great for the audience because they get to meet many writers. Recently, I interviewed best selling mystery writer, William Kent Krueger.
His popular series stars Cork O’Connor and …
A scary thing happened at the National Institute of Health (of all places!!) recently. Unknown to anyone, some vials of small pox virus were discovered. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/16/fda-update-on-vials-found-in-cold-storage-at-nih/12744543/ Could they have been used as a new small pox bio-terrorism threat?
That’s scary because the disease of small pox virus was eradicated from the planet in 1979. Which means no one…
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