Dickens probably wins the prize for character names, but one of my favorites is a character created by sci-fi writer C.L Moore. A space pilot named Northwest Smith. That is just great! From my own book of short stories, I like my recurring character...

Hello Chitra, Your post comes to me on the same day I read your wonderful article, The Novelist's Guide to Writing What [Only]You Know, in Writer's Digest. How I love that article. It relieved some tension in me that nearly brought me to tears, a...

Leslie, I think you may be right about daily writing being a man's invention. I was sort of thinking the same thing. I think the way men and women approach writing is very different (this is a generalization, I know), but I don't know of any how-to...

Sometimes I write everyday. Sometimes a week passes, or even >gulp< two weeks. But on the days I am not putting words on paper, I am thinking about my story. I'm mulling it over, puzzling out plot twists and character development, getting Aha!...

I'm trying to work through this same issue just now, so your post is serendipitous.  When I wrote my first book, I wrote for the love of telling the stories, specifically to friends and my writers' group.  I had no idea of publishing until I looked...

Jane, I, too, am working on my first novel.  Up to now, I've written poetry and short stories (my first book is a collection of short stories), so I am in the same space as you with trying to figure out how I write a novel.  Each writer seems to...

Hi Jane, I was eager to read your 2nd chapter after sampling the first one.  First, Anna is an interesting character. Second, coming to the USA from Norway with a degree in Med Bio, and then accepting a teaching position in the deep South is a...

Hi Jane! You do have a few grammatical issues here, but they are easily addressed.  As LeTeisha points out, watch your tense - it changed several times.  Your description is quite good, and the protaganist, though nascent, interests me.  She seems...

This is an exciting venture.  I love the idea of a hybrid press; it offers the benefits of self-publishing with the added cache of vetting.  I published my first book through CreateSpace, and it was an easy and mostly satisfactory process.  The one...