UPDATE 11/27/17: this book comes out soon from The Wild Rose Press. Get your free sneak peek here. I just did an interview for a funeral home. Not a job interview. The kind a writer gives to an interested party. Yeah, I don’t know “why Ronda” either, but there it is. Anyway, the topic of grief naturally arose, and I mentioned how grief infiltrates life the way a teabag infuses its essence into water. Grief can be a powerful motivator for a wide variety of actions a character takes (or does not take).  For the reader, seeing how the protagonist or other character responds... Read More

Having taken Jan Morrill’s live workshop on creative characterization, I was thrilled when I saw the announcement that she had made a print (and Kindle) workbook to accompany it. Creative Characterization by Jan Morrill  In Creative Characterization, award-winning author Jan Morrill discusses six different methods she uses to develop characters such as those in her historical fiction, The Red Kimono: • Interviewing • Describing Photos and Paintings • Writing Letters • Writing in a Different Point of View • Accessing Character’s Inner Child • Internalization The exercises... Read More

Point of view is perhaps the most difficult skill to develop. SOme writers have more trouble with it than others, but whether trying for deep POV or not-so-deep, it tends to vex every writer to some degree. So if you find it a challenge, you’re in good company! I came across this book and decided to read it so I could see if it’s a worthy resource for you. Rivet Your Readers with Deep Point of View by Jill Elizabeth Nelson Deep point of view is so fully in a characters mind that the reader doesn’t just read your book; she lives the story. Go deep enough and your rreader will... Read More

elcome back to another Write On Purpose book review. Each week, I review a well-written book, highlighting what makes it good from the reader’s perspective and what writing skills and techniques make it an irresistible read. Thus, each review serves both writers and readers. This week, it’s an Amish science fiction novel called Brother, Frankenstein by Michael Bunker. Yes, I said “Amish science fiction.” Have you heard of it? It sounds like a strange combination, doesn’t it? Yet in the hands of a skilled wordsmith, it can definitely work. Here’s the book description... Read More

Book Review of Thursdays at Coconuts by Beth Carter Welcome back to another Write On Purpose book review. Each week, I review a well-written book, highlighting what makes it good from the reader’s perspective and what writing skills and techniques make it an irresistible read. Thus, each review serves both writers and readers. This week’s good read is Thursdays at Coconuts by Beth Carter. It’s a light read with interesting characters. It reminds me of a “typical” woman’s Sex in the City, because the key characters are interesting women who have more common lives... Read More

As an author, I read books about the craft of writing, publishing, book marketing and similar topics writers need.  Today, I’m reviewing an excellent book about writing battles. Have you ever been reading a good book but found yourself brought right out of the story by a ridiculous fight scene? I have. One book I read is otherwise excellent, however, the author wrote a hand-to-hand combat scene in which a man bit out a woman’s Adam’s apple. Wh-wh-wh-wha-??? In case you, like this author, don’t know your anatomy, only men have that bobbing little apple-like protrusion.... Read More

Welcome back to another Write On Purpose book review. Each week, I review a well-written book, highlighting what makes it good from the reader’s perspective and what writing skills and techniques make it an irresistible book. Thus, each review serves both writers and readers. This week’s excellent read is The Geneva Decision by Seeley James, a thriller about an athlete embarking on a new and dangerous lifestyle. Like any good thriller, the lead character Pia Sabel is both flawed and larger-than-life in equal measure. That’s part of what makes thrillers exciting to those who enjoy... Read More

Once There Were Sad Songs is a romance between two people fleeing their pasts. Author Velda Brotherton, a full time writer, created the story.  Wild Rose Press published it in December of 2013. I have to be honest. I’m not usually a romance reader, unless there’s suspense, mystery, or the romance is just part of life and not the focal point. Thee are certain conventions in the romance genre that drive me crazy. I read Once There Were Sad Songs because of the skill of the author, Velda Brotherton. She  has now successfully written and published 25 books, I believe, and is a superb... Read More

How do you bring your minor characters to life? I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month, NaoWriMo, My book is They All Died Smiling, a paranormal suspense story. Today I was thinking about minor characters and what I do to make the come to life. Honestly, even the minor characters typically simply “come to me.” Occasionally I base one off of someone from my real life, but mostly they present themselves to me. When I need a minor character, I like to know one thing that makes them stand out. It’s not necessary to invent a whole back story for them.When I needed... Read More

I love writing fiction, and I decided to challenge myself to write a story a day for a month, starting today. The first story is loosely based on a guy who saw Bigfoot in Lampe Missouri over 30 years ago, when he was a young man on a date. When he told me about his experience, he actually said the line that became the title of the story: “She had a curfew. I had a van.” I loved that line so much, I used it as the title. Here’s a sample of the 30-Day Short Story Writing Challenge Day 1 story. Excerpt of “She Had a Curfew…I had a Van” (a Bigfoot story) by Ronda Del Boccio copyright... Read More