Lynne's Blog
As a science center director in a former life, my job was to show our audiences how science works, not simply to tell them. The Aha! moments made the experience real for the thousands of kids, adults, and young adults that visited. When they left, there was a good chance they would remember the scientific concept behind the hands-on exhibit.
Writing is much the same. Writers need that Aha! encounter to grow and nourish their ideas into a final piece of work. That’s what this blog is all about. It’s about MY “minds-on” adventure with words — one I enjoy sharing with readers. Whether it’s about the research aspect, the craft of writing itself, or the emotional roller coaster of putting myself out there in the public eye . . . my blog is me. Pure and simple.
I welcome your thoughts and hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
Forensics of Fire
The deadly fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory lasted only half an hour, from the initial spark to final burning embers. Near closing time on Saturday, March 25, 1911, a fire erupted on the eighth floor in a bin of scrap materials and fabrics. A steady flow of...
Good Book Covers, Bad Book Covers
The cover of a book is a promise to the reader. This book is about . . . Will the book deliver? At the risk of hurting some feelings, I wanted to open this topic for discussion. I’ve posted what I consider good and bad book covers. The criteria I use: It gets...
The Final Edit – Your Job or a Pro’s?
A writer friend asked me whether it was really a good idea to pay a professional editor to read her manuscript. My immediate response was yes, but the question made me pause and reflect on my personal experiences. I have had all four of my novels edited by pros. In...
Grab Your Reader with a Killer Title
In 2000, Literary Agent, Noah Lukeman wrote “The First Five Pages.” In this thin little gem on writing, he said that if the first five pages didn’t hold the reader, it was bye bye book. Before you get to the first five pages, however, you must be grabbed by the...
War and Peace in One Day
The Christmas Truce When it started, World War I was predicted to last only a few weeks. (The same was true of the Civil War, by the way.) Instead, by December of 1914, WWI had already claimed nearly a million lives. In fact, over fifteen million died in a war that...
Oh the Pain . . . and the Rewards!
If you’re like me and have been writing for long time, you’ll probably recognize the signs of restlessness and dissatisfaction. Here’s how it goes. You: Develop a premise for a new book Research Write the book Re-write the book Edit the book Re-write the book Edit the...
Jacket Copy – An Important Marketing Tool
One of the most difficult tasks for writers, but also one of the most important is the back (jacket) cover text. It must be brief but intriguing, succinct but riveting. For discussion sake, here is the back cover text for my latest book, Pure Lies, a mystery about...
Can Your Blog Drive Book Sales?
This is a reprint of an earlier blog of mine that hit a nerve with many writers. The dilemma of spending time marketing your books vs. writing your books clearly resonated and drew lots of responses. I’ve tried to practice what I preached in that post and have cut...
Thanksgiving: Puritans, Pilgrims, and Sexual Obsession
I found this article particularly interesting with the holidays coming and my latest book, Pure Lies, a mystery about the Salem Witch Trials, just released. Sexual obsession is not a concept usually associated with Puritans, but this sheds light on a grim and...
A Simple Formula for That First Outline
For me, outlining is extremely important. Mainly because a large part of the action in my mysteries take place in the past and have so darn many details, I can’t rely on my pea-brain to remember it all. I begin with my “jump-start” outline. Now, what the heck is that,...
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