I recently decided to stop being so anthropocentric and incorporate a dog into the cast of my protagonists. This took a bit of courage, because a) animal characters can be cutesy and maudlin, and b) all the animals in books I read as a kid got killed in the course of the story, and I can’t take any more, OK? But, used correctly, the animal character can be just as powerful a presence as a human. If the temptation to … Read More »

Here are some thoughts mainly (but not exclusively) meant for those who write in a close third-person or first-person point of view. We’ve all internalized the advice to stay in a consistent point of view. You know—not to see things Mr. POV can’t see (like his own face) nor to read other people’s minds. But there’s a different sense in which a writer has to think about voice, and not just in dialogue. Because each personage in a book, like … Read More »

A long time ago, I wrote about this topic, but now that I find myself writing cozy mysteries, I think I need to reflect on it again. Genre books should be good. Should even flirt with being “literary.” Because, let’s face it, there’s no excuse for writing bad books, no matter what kind. Laws That Never Shall Be Broken The informal definition of a genre book—whether romance, cozy, police procedural, or thriller—is that it follows certain closely constraining rules. And … Read More »

Sitting here in front of the fire (no, I’m not in Florida!) makes me think of fire-like concepts. Like intensity, burning fiercely. Emotional intensity that leaves you physically limp. Intense suspense, so gripping you can’t put the book down. Hilarity that has you holding your sides while tears roll down your cheeks. These are the virtuous extremes that make a book unforgettable, unputdownable. They melt us onto them like a hot pan set down on a plastic lid. Now, it … Read More »

I’ve reflected before on the power of surprise in novels. But I’d like to share a few thoughts now about a certain kind of surprise—perhaps the most heart-wrenching kind, because it’s so relatable. That is, the “good” character who turns out to be bad, or the “bad” one who finally shows himself to be good(ish). The Good Are Bad It’s true, of course, that no human being is fully good or bad, and our fictional personages should reflect that. But … Read More »

You don’t have to have read too many books to realize that breadth of vocabulary is a great attribute for a writer. It goes back to Flaubert’s idea of the mot juste—using just the right word. The mot juste We tend to think of adjectives here because they’re descriptors. To describe the house precisely, we need the right adjectives, correct? A cozy little house. An impressive house. A dirty, sagging house. But adjectives are only one of many parts of … Read More »