Tonight's suspense technique is in one aspect related to Mystery. In fact, when you think about it, all suspense techniques begin with a...

Suspense Technique #1 of 7 I begin with a golden oldie, tried-and-true, and probably already familiar to you: MYSTERY This type of hook has ...

Yesterday, I talked about how important it is to build suspense early in your story--the first sentence or paragraph if possible. Here are s...

Suspense is the key to getting published. Agree? Consider that the average editor is inundated with hundreds--maybe thousands--of manuscript...

After a long day--and night of writing--Christopher and I retired to our new favorite haunt, The Banshee. Christopher has the brilliant idea...

So far, Christopher Hopper and I have dined the Banshee thrice, and in a few moments, I think we will visit once more to revel in the live I...

Arrived in Scranton, PA yesterday afternoon. Author Christopher Hopper and I found the most amazing Irish pub just a few blocks from our hot...

I had a Door Within speaking engagement today with an elementary school near Columbia. About a hundred fourth and fifth graders came and sa...

I am SO looking forward to this weekend. I'm loading all my writing gear into the Batmobile and venturing out to Scranton, Pennsylvania ...

You might be thinking of Barbaro the horse. Sad as that is, I'm not mourning about that. See last night, I completed a gigantic set of e...

I know this is going to sound crazy with a capital INSANE , but over the years that I struggled to write and publish The Door Within, I was ...

A Cutting Party is what happens when your book is WAY over word count and the author needs to cut about 40 pages worth. For some reason that...

All three books of The Door Within Trilogy will be released this year in Mass Market Paperback! The Door Within will be first, released in A...

My next book, Isle of Swords, is a high seas pirate adventure due to be released early this summer. Here for the first time online are two s...

That was the complaint from my wonderful 6th graders at Arundel Middle. They thought it terribly unfair that I had the nerve to assign them ...

Thanks to all who have made this Blog Tour excellent. I'm thrilled that The Door Within books are getting the CSFF "Thumbs up!...

Spoiler Alert!! The outlines below are my working outlines from Rise of the Wyrm Lord and The Final Storm. I began The Door Within in 1992. ...

This is one of my first rejection letters. ONE of MANY rejection letters. Notice that this editor was nice enough to provide critique. Most ...

Top image: If a character hasn't come to life for me, sometimes I have to sketch them out. I made a quickie character card and tried to ...