Writer Unboxed

I had some exciting news this month. A quote given to me by the lovely Michelle Moran prompted the higher echelons at my publishers to take a look at the forthcoming second book of my trilogy, Dark Moon of Avalon, and decide to give it more publicity build up than had previously been budgeted for. [...]

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The publishing blogosphere has lately been ablaze with posts about ebooks and ebook pricing. A contingent of ebook consumers are crowing that, in light of the recent Amazon/Macmillan standoff and pricing precedent that was set, ebook prices will shoot through the roof. They recently attempted character assassination using a deplorable 1-star Amazon review campaign on [...]

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Therese blogged about ways to jumpstart your creativity. The subject has been on my mind a lot, because I’ve spent the past month overhauling my office. It’s a great, if ordinary, space–a bedroom upstairs overlooking the street and a view of Pikes Peak and the entire Front Range, which changes daily with light and weather [...]

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So I’ve just unsnarled myself from a vicious plot-block. I knew the bones were there; I was missing something. In the end, I needed to follow my own advice (again), strip back the many ideas I’d grown to love to reveal a core truth, then start brainstorming fresh from that point. Finally, success. For now. [...]

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We’ve been overwhelmed and touched with the response to our call for a new contributor, one who’ll be our voice for the Unpublished Writer, and we’re excited about adding a new member to the WU family! Our plan is to bring one new person in as a permanent member–someone who’d blog with us once monthly. [...]

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Tonight is the night! Carleen Brice’s lauded debut novel, Orange Mint and Honey, was purchased by Lifetime Movie Network and has been transformed into a made-for-TV movie for the network called Sins of the Mother. [Read our interview with Carleen here.] Check out the trailer here, and be sure to tune in to the Lifetime [...]

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I recently read this advice telling fiction writers not to worry (initially) about online presence or platform. I run across this advice frequently—and I used to offer up some version of it, e.g., focus on perfecting your work first before you jump into submitting. While I still believe that to some extent, this view can [...]

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One of the many approaches I’m trying in order to build an audience for my novel, The Vampire Kitty-cat Chronicles, is doing the whole novel as free podcasts, one per chapter, 26 in all. Here’s how I I’m going about it, and the tools I use. The first podcast in the series is at the [...]

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This is my first post from Paris, where I’m lucky enough to be resident in the marvelous Cite Internationale des Arts, in the 4th arrondissement, a stone’s throw from the Seine, a short walk to Notre Dame. Even in the winter, Paris is an amazing, magical place for a writer (or frankly, anyone!) to be, [...]

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So Kath and I were thinking: Now that we’re both published, there’s a bit of a hole in the cast here at WU — namely the voice of the Unpublished Writer. We’re still hashing out specifics, but we’d love to know your thoughts on this one. Poll time! Would you be interested in seeing an [...]

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Before I landed an agent and publishing deal, I read something on a well-regarded writerly website about similes. I think the advice went something like this: You shouldn’t have more than two similes in your entire story because they can be distracting. I did a quick check of The Last Will of Moira Leahy and [...]

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The signs were not good. Oh, I had a plan. In December, I’d outlined the whole book from beginning to end. Made sure I’d figured out the plot holes in advance. Had a killer resolution in mind. The plan was solid. I knew I was getting into trouble around mid-January when my page counts began [...]

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