I recently read a magnificent novel, The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau, which deals with the fate of some English Dominican nuns during Henry VIII’s “reform.” I was delighted and honored when Nancy agreed to be interviewed. I will be reviewing the book as well in a future post. To quote […]
Increase The Odds For Self-Publishing Success
When I began writing my first book, Emily’s Hope, ten years ago, I did so thinking, “If just one person can read my book and feel they’ve learned something, then I’ll have reached my goal.” It never even occurred to me to “make money” with my books. But, eight years […]
CWG MEMBER NEWS
Sarah Reinhard on The Catholics Next Door Sarah Reinhard will be interviewed on The Catholics Next Door with Greg and Jennifer Willits this Friday, February, 2012. Listen for Sarah at 2:20 EST discussing her newest book. The Catholics Next Door are on Sirius Radio channel 129, The Catholic Channel, Monday through […]
Interview Your Characters
Some characters seem to come to fiction writers fully formed. Others are mere shells that need a lot of fleshing out. For characters that you are having difficulty developing, consider giving them an interview. Imagine this. You are hiring this character for a job, or even better, taking him out […]
“Did That Happen?” Using Stranger-Than-Fiction Events in Your Fiction
“Truth, of course, must of necessity be stranger than fiction, for we have made fiction to suit ourselves.” ― G.K. Chesterton, Heretics Sometimes, we want to put an event in our realistic fiction that seems anything but realistic. Most of know, though, that real-life events would be called ‘unrealistic’ in […]
CWG NEWS
GABLE TRIPLES THE TOP TEN LIST Ellen Gable Hrkach, Vice President of the Catholic Writers Guild, reached a milestone last week: all three of her novels were in the top ten of their category on Amazon Kindle. At one point, all three books were in the top five! (As of […]
Researching Medieval France
Acclaimed historical novelist Catherine Delors once interviewed me about the research for my novel The Night’s Dark Shade and the joys of self-publishing. Here is the interview, which may be of interest to other writers: Elena, your third novel, The Night’s Dark Shade takes place during the Albigensian Crusade, in […]
CWG NEWS
“The Day Johnny Cracked” CWG Secretary, Dave Law, has a flash fiction story published in White Cat Magazine‘s January issue. “The Day Johnny Cracked,” is Law’s first foray into writing after five years of sitting behind a publisher’s desk. Dave A. Law is a freelance writer and editor, whose short […]
CWG NEWS
SHORT STORIES ABOUND 2011 was a fruitful year for CWG member Walt Staples. Five of his short stories were published at various fiction sites and “his stuff,” as Staples calls his writing, appeared in Splashdown Books’ anthology Aquasynthesis (2011). You can also find Staples and his most recent works at […]
The Importance of Subtext
Earlier this year I attended an open house at a drama school. To help us get an idea of what a class might entail, two volunteers were chosen to act out a simple scene. Each actor could only use one word. One could plead with “Please.” No matter what, the […]