I’m a full-time writer, not a traditional English professor. Thankfully, I’m employed in a wonderful English department that does embrace writing, from academic to mass market. I do not have APA and MLA formatting memorized. I don’t care if you end a sentence with a preposition as long as readers…
Tameri
A Midsummer Night’s Scream is book 15 in what is now, and hopefully remains, a 16-book series featuring Jane Jeffry, a crime-solving stay-at-home mother. The title of each book in the series is a play on a famous book title, cleverly tying the mysteries to Jane’s love of reading and…
Scott and I maintain two blogs, Twitter feeds, and a Facebook page dedicated to creative writing instruction. I have discovered that readers prefer to choose how they receive updates and blog feeds, so we’ve tried to offer the most popular options. First, a reminder to visit the Tameri Guide for…
I’ve been complaining lately that I don’t have enough to read. That isn’t true. It is more that I can’t find any GOOD books to read. What has happened to the publishing industry? Are they no longer hiring editors to reject the books that do not have a plot? Take…
Humorous mystery writer W. S. Gager graciously agreed to be our first author interview for our reading and writing blog. I had fun coming up with questions to ask, but welcome any and all suggestions for future interviews. 1. What can you tell us about yourself? I’ve always been a…
I’ve come to the conclusion that most websites need to hire a vast array of moderators for their online comments section. Mostly to delete the stupid comments. Although I fully protect everyone’s freedom of speech and their freedom to come across as an absolute idiot in public or private, some…
I am about to teach a course on “The Essay” and that leads me to ask what is a blog? I know that blogging platforms, like WordPress, can be used to share fiction, poetry, technical manuals, and more, but in its general form of personal reflections what is a blog?…
Normally, I would have a digital dictionary installed on my computer, but when my work computer was upgraded a few months ago, I didn’t reinstall the program on the new system. For about two weeks, my office is packed up and I’m working in a temporary location while the floors…
I attended the Public Safety Writers Association 2011 Conference in Las Vegas this weekend. The attendees are not only authors of mystery, suspense, and thriller, many of them are also current and former law enforcement officers. Sitting among defense lawyers, prosecutors, retired military officers, firefighters, and others who really have…
I admit that I have long been skeptical of “self-publishing” in the print industry. The value of good editors and the supports provided to writers by traditional publishing houses is difficult to overstate. Yes, I realize the huge publishers are gatekeepers, selecting a handful of writers to promote, but they…