I believe I “met” Shayla Raquel after being invited to an editors-only Facebook group that she and a co-conspirator launched a few years ago. Since I was just beginning my career as a freelance editor, I relished that group’s insight, camaraderie, and helpfulness. Whenever I felt stuck, I asked that group. The fact that I…
Category: Fiction
Is Backstory Necessary?
“So when my students ask me how much backstory they’re permitted to include in a story, I say, ‘How about none?’” That’s Benjamin Percy in Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction, an excellent book on writing fiction. He expands on his backstory bashing: “None is a good start. Because it’s so often unnecessary. A reader intuits the…
The Art of Author Branding with Mary DeMuth
In preparation for her talk tomorrow, May 25, at 7 p.m. at Deep Vellum Books near downtown Dallas for the monthly meeting of the Dallas Nonfiction Authors Association, I interviewed Mary DeMuth about “The Art of Author Branding.” As an experienced and prolific author of more than thirty fiction and nonfiction books, she has keen…
The Reindeer Games: A Day to Rue
To fully enjoy “A Day to Rue,” the finale to the five-part miniseries “The Reindeer Games,” read “The Reindeer Games,” “Catching Ire,” “The Battle Royale Begins,” and “Stalking Day” first. “It’s time for you to go down in history Rue,” I whispered to myself. I happened upon him in the deepest part of the forest,…
The Reindeer Games: Stalking Day
To fully enjoy “Stalking Day,” read “The Reindeer Games,” “The Reindeer Games: Catching Ire,” and “The Reindeer Games: The Battle Royale Begins” first. “Who’s going to guide my slay tonight?” The Fat Man’s pun boomed over us as we sprinted toward the goods at the center of our ring.[ref]Suprisingly, The Fat Man had a dark…