Writer Tech: writing sequels

“Quit teasing us!” That was a message from a reader on my Facebook page this morning. She was kidding (kind of) but many of you seem to enjoy these Natural History of a Novel blogs, so here’s another. I started writing Epitaph in the spring of 2011...

Naming Number Six

From the dawn of the movie and television industries, the image of men in broad-brimmed hats marching toward a showdown has been a set piece. There is an ultimatum, and defiance. Townspeople scatter, leaving the combatants alone in the street. There is a moment of...

Workshopping a manuscript

Wyatt has been absorbing most of my mental energy lately, which is why nobody has heard much from me. I recently sent the first half of the manuscript (290 pages) to a fresh reader, and she alerted me to a serious imbalance in the way the story was developing. It took...