Jan 23, 2008 Posted by mike

July Brags

——————————————————————————– Therese Heckenkamp, author of Past Suspicion, will be featured in the January 2004 issue of The Writer, contributing to the “Breakthrough” department an article describing her journey from teen writer to... read more

Jan 23, 2008 Posted by mike

August Brags

Kelly Steed has signed a contract with JoNa Books, www.jonabooks.com, for her second novel Camelot’s Revenge about a psychic who discovers the identity of the grassy knoll assassin and decides to bring him to justice in thirty-five years after JFK’s assassination. It will be released in 2004. Author’s website... read more

Jan 22, 2008 Posted by mike

The Happy Accident

by John Caruso We’ve all experienced the moment when we curse in aggravation but before the last of four letters burst forth, we have an epiphany. We think we’ve made a horrendous mistake only to realize some unseen hand has slipped a genius-Mickey in our frustration cocktail. In other words, we’ve run smack dab into the happy accident. We write. We make a mistake. But, voilà, the mistake is BETTER... read more

Jan 22, 2008 Posted by mike

To Verb

by John Caruso When I’m feeling a bit playful-or when I’m feeling stuck-I like to pull out my notebook and jot down a dozen or so nouns. These have to be “hard” nouns, not words that can work as nouns or verbs such as “paint,” “race,” “touch,” or “table.” (This in itself is an interesting exercise because it’s not quite as easy as it seems.) A sampling from a recent list included:... read more

Jan 22, 2008 Posted by mike

Nomenclature A Go-Go

by John Caruso Even though “that which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet,” it is difficult to deny a name can carry it’s own significance. You have an idea for a character. This character has certain traits, has his own resonance. If you give him a name that doesn’t fit that resonance, you will create dissonance. Of course, dissonance may be just what... read more