A funny thing happened on my way to MacGregor Literary … I’ve been thinking a lot about how my experience as a freelance writer prepared me to help guide authors who are working hard to find their way in this tight market. Before I met Chip and turned to the dark side to join him as an agent, I freelanced for a living. One of my most steady gigs was for a national trade publication. When I first began writing there, my job was to take the dullest stories the Director of Communications needed covered and do my best to bring them to life. After a year of proving that I could be trusted with the mundane pieces (trust me – mundane is generous here) he began to come to […]
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Chapter 3.2 – Luke’s POV!
Chapter 3.2….rough draft – here we go! Luke didn’t know who to strangle first – the blonde who looked like she could level him with one straight on glare in his direction or Greg, the cousin who just couldn’t seem to leave him alone. “I was just trying to help,” Mackenzie said. “I just hate the fact that they think they can rule the world.” “It really wasn’t any of your business, MaKen –Miss Grace.” “It’s Kenzie. And…I know.” She sighed, looked away. “Reporters just…get under my skin. A job hazard, I guess.” A job hazard. Luke glanced at her wrist brace. Something had happened, enough for her even now to put a protective hand over it. He had to admit, he hadn’t the faintest idea who […]
Read the RestCatching Up on Blog-a-Book
So…I’ll bet you are wondering where Blog-a-Book went. Me too. Well, actually…I know. IT’S BEEN TRAPPED IN MY BRAIN! See, one of the Voices asked me recently… “Do you normally write a book by the seat of your pants?” Uh…NO! I like a roadmap, a synopsis to work from. Then I have a sort of “cheat sheat” to start my day. I need to know what the end goal is so that I can put in the right clues in the beginning… HENCE, why the story has been trapped. Well, that and the fact that I’ve taught at two conferences, a women’s retreat and finished two books (and have a son that’s graduating). But I assured you that Blog-a-Book is NEVER far my mind. Keeping me up at night. Tormenting […]
Read the RestTurn it upside down!
Hi Voices, Susie is busy with writing, four kids and doing a bit of traveling, so we’ll get back to Blog-a-Book next week. Thanks for your patience. We appreciate you all. Today I wanted to talk about some of the basics of story telling and fiction writing. A great story starts with an idea. Any idea. What makes it great is developing a seed of an idea. Take an ordinary idea — boy meets a girl — and turn it upside down. “An engaged boy meets a girl he believes is his true love. But he’s getting married in a month.” Good, but how can we turn it upside down even more? Boy approaches the girl only to discover she is just recovering from her own heartbreak — her fiance […]
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