It is a writer's job to draw readers into the fictional story so completely that they forget the real world. Our goal is to render them powerless, so despite the late hour, mountain of laundry, or workday ahead, they cannot give up the journey unfolding within the paper-crisp pages before them.
Strong, compelling writing comes down to the right words, in the right order. Sounds easy, but as all writers know, it is anything BUT. So how do we create this storytelling magic?
How can we weave description in such a way that the fictional landscape becomes authentic and real—a mirror of the reader's world in all the ways that count most?
Well, there's some good news on that front. Two new books have released this week that may change the description game for writers.
The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to City Spaces and
The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Personal and Natural Spaces look at the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds a character might experience within 225 different contemporary settings. And this is only the start of what these books offer writers.
In fact, swing by and
check out this hidden entry from the Urban Setting Thesaurus: Police Car.
And there's one more thing you might want to know more about....
Becca and Angela, authors of
The Emotion Thesaurus, are celebrating their double release with a fun event going on from June 13-20th called
ROCK THE VAULT.
At the heart of Writers Helping Writers is a tremendous vault, and these two ladies have been hoarding prizes of epic writerly proportions.
A safe full of prizes, ripe for the taking...if the writing community can work together to unlock it, of course.
Ready to do your part? Stop by
Writers Helping Writers to find out more!
Today our nation makes a decision on who will be our next President. After this very long, very nasty campaign, I thought that we all needed a laugh. Who knows how the next twenty-four hours will go, so let’s start our day off with a smile and some laughter. 
I love reality television and watch it because I enjoy seeing how normal people interact in front of a camera. Some people think it’s scripted - I don’t. But I do believe that all reality TV producers want people on 
Last month at the Lori Foster Readers and Authors Get Together, Sharon Hamilton and I wrangled over whether or not Cowboys or SEALS are better. Even a very cute young man took my side and told Sharon that 
We’ve all
heard of Christmas in July. Several
channels are running holiday movies, some shows have craft and cooking segments
showing you how to make holiday foods and gifts. For me, it really is Christmas in July, my
favorite time of the year for another reason: the annual Romance Writers of
America conference.
With over thirty books under my belt, I struggle to find plots that are new and different. There are only twenty plots in the world and I’ve probably written every one of them. As an author you have to start looking outside the box for ways to keep the writing fresh and interesting to not only your readers, but yourself. 
I had
taken a brief hiatus from my French book sequel, and the prequel, because I had
a dream about five cowboy ranching brothers, and they were clamoring for me to
start writing their stories. I’d hoped
to enter it in a contest last year, but didn’t finish in time. So with my Sullivans of Montana cowboy story, I wrote and
wrote until I reached the point where the hero and heroine finally get together
(you know what I mean). 
In this everyday hectic, fast-paced, not-so-nice world,
I need to remind myself to stop and
smell the roses. Not always literally,
although I did do it on the way out of work one late night last week. But find something that gives me happiness
and pleasure. 
