Category Archives: Writing

Life After You Publish: The Perils

Posted on January 25, 2015 by Donna Maloy, Author

One of my good friends is Gerry Bartlett. She’s been writing vampire romances for many years and is a very active member of a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. She also writes a monthly article for their newsletter … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Aha! moments, Business of Writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Match Dialogue to Character

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

When asked by a blog commenter to name the major shortcomings he sees in manuscripts, developmental editor Alan Rinzler called out–           “dialogue that all sounds like the same person.” Editor/author/writing guru James Scott Bell seconds that opinion, emphatically. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Differentiating Characters, Differentiating Characters, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Don’t Make Janet Reid Cry

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

Sorry to be posting a day late. Janet Reid is a very successful literary agent with FinePrint Literary Management who offers great advice to aspiring writers. Her blog has (at last count) 266 blog entries under the key words “query … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Agent, Janet Reid, Queries | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Start with Character

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

In a recent post for Adventures in YA Publishing, Susan Hawk of The Bent Agency answered the burning question, “What would make you stop reading when reviewing sample pages?” Her answer wasn’t specifically directed to YA manuscripts. But it was surprising—at first … Continue reading →

Posted in Character-driven action, Character-driven action, Openings, Susan Hawk, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Best Writing Advice

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

John Scalzi is a Film Critic/Columnist, Writer/Editor, Freelance writer, Novelist (his own words). He’s a New York Times best seller in fiction and has won the Hugo, the Locus, the Seiun and Kurd Lasswitz awards. His works have been translated … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, Craft of Writing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment