New September release:
Try this romantic Bronze Age mystery:
Or the Hearts and Thrones series opener:
Tag Archives: writing
Writing technique: let it percolate
I recently had the experience of writing a 26,000 word novella in one month. That’s fast for me because it normally takes me six months to write a 100,000 word novel. A novella is one quarter the length, so it … Continue reading
Time management for writers — a follow-up post
Last week I blogged about Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ technique of setting a timer for three hours at the beginning of her writing day and letting it run only when she is actively writing, not doing research or email or Facebook. … Continue reading
Time management for writers
First a quick administrative update: I turned in the manuscript for Prince’s Fire last week! That is book three in my series. I’m talking with my agent and editor about what to work on next. It will either be a … Continue reading
Posted in Writing
Tagged nora roberts, process, susan elizabeth phillips, time management, writing
8 Comments
The last ten percent
One of my sons is a fairly serious piano player. Not serious as in “going to be a concert pianist someday” but as in “takes lessons from a high level instructor, practices daily, and doesn’t suck.” From observing his experience, … Continue reading
Novel openings
So I’m writing the third book in the Assassin’s Gambit series, which is currently untitled, and I’ve run into a bit of a dilemma about the opening. I have chosen a “soft” opening for this novel. If you’ve read the … Continue reading
Posted in Assassin's Gambit, Writing
Tagged Assassin's Gambit, openings, spy's honor, writing
13 Comments
Gearing up for release
Look, my print galleys have arrived! Still a little over two months before release date. Just so you know, only the galleys are pink like this. The real book has cover art :). I’ve noticed that review sites are starting … Continue reading
Posted in Assassin's Gambit, Fantasy, Writing
Tagged Assassin's Gambit, marketing, publicity, publishing, writing
4 Comments
History for the fantasy buff: Number systems, part 3
One last post on number systems. I’ve talked about Roman and Arabic numerals, and base 10 versus other bases used worldwide through early history. But I’ve skipped over the East. This isn’t history, exactly. I’m talking about things that are … Continue reading
Posted in Fantasy, History, Writing
Tagged fantasy, history, math, number systems, writing
3 Comments
2012: The year in books
I think writers should read, a lot, and I like making that pronouncement because it’s something I would do anyway. Even before I started writing, I was reading at least 50 books a year, just for fun. Now that this … Continue reading
The publishing process: proofreading
Look, my page proofs are here for Assassin’s Gambit! Developmental editing and copyediting are done. The cover is done too, sort of, but it’s not final so I can’t show. Now it’s on to proofreading. People complain about (traditionally) published … Continue reading
Posted in Assassin's Gambit, Books, Writing
Tagged Assassin's Gambit, page proofs, proofreading, writing
11 Comments
Studying the novella
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of novellas. I’ve read six in a row, all of them historical and contemporary romances. I’m trying to absorb and understand the structure of a novella because eventually I’d like to write one myself. … Continue reading
Amy Raby 