February 2010

Five Quick Tips for Writing Better Dialogue

February 25, 2010

1. Real people speaking in real conversations, especially in one-on-one situations, don’t use the name of the person they’re speaking to very often. They don’t need to. They might use it sparingly for emphasis, but they don’t do it in every sentence. Be careful not to overuse names in your dialogue. It makes it feel [...]

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Solomon’s Grave on the Bram Stoker Final Ballot

February 22, 2010

SOLOMON’S GRAVE by Dan Keohane (Dragon Moon Press) is a finalist for the 2009 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. It was a pleasure to work with Dan on the book, and Dragon Moon and I wish him the best of luck. Congrats, Dan! A couple other notes: Erik Buchanan shares [...]

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The “Said” Trap

February 18, 2010

What’s the most common ‘mistake’ that you see writers make when attributing dialogue? The biggest challenge with written dialogue as compared to spoken dialogue is this: When you (as a reader) can’t hear the words for yourself, you have no way to know who’s speaking, or how they’re speaking. It’s easy (as a writer) to [...]

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Your Five Minutes Start… Now!

February 15, 2010

Thanks to the wonderful Laurie McLean and the rest of the Larsen-Pomada Literary Agency, I had the fortune to spend my weekend at the San Francisco Writers Conference as an independent editor. For two days, my job was to advise writers in one-on-one sessions. The catch? The sessions were only five minutes long. Sign-up sheets [...]

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Reflections in the Stacks

February 11, 2010

I’m sitting in a cozy chair in a bookstore down the street from where I live, as I’m writing this. It’s my first attempt to blog from my phone and we’ll see how it goes. Walking in, I was struck pretty quickly by just how long it’s been since I wandered into a real, physical [...]

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Ten Tips for Formatting Your Electronic Submission

February 8, 2010

When you’re sending a manuscript file electronically, there are some formatting decisions you have to make. Some of the advice on formatting is fairly standard and easy to find. Most editors, publishers or agents will tell you to double-space between lines and single-space after a period, some will tell you what text font or size [...]

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The Last-Glance Editing Checklist

February 4, 2010

Consistency is a big part of polish. Manuscripts with inconsistency issues will look sloppy and careless no matter how well they’re written. Not only do they make more work for a publisher, but they also suggest to publishers and agents that you aren’t serious enough to pay careful attention to your writing. I recommend doing [...]

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Promoted to Associate Publisher

February 2, 2010

Breaking News: Dragon Moon Press Announcement FEB 01, 2010—Dragon Moon Press, publisher of science fiction and fantasy, announced the promotion of editor-in-charge Gabrielle Harbowy to associate publisher. “Gabrielle has been an asset to Dragon Moon Press since her hire in 2006. She consistently, and with a sense of humour, edits our manuscripts into great works, [...]

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Because the answer can be no

February 1, 2010

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you found out that you were a wizard? What about if you learned that the evil overlord was actually your father? Have you ever thought about leaving everything you know behind and going out into space to search for alien races and cultures? Have you ever wondered [...]

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