You Gotta Have Art: Why Do You Write?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy


I once had a conversation with a writer friend about writing and art as it applies to the publishing world. We have different views on this, so it was a good debate. I was still thinking about it when I came across a link on agent Janet Reid's blog.

In a nutshell, this link is an author who feels literary agents are killing books as an art form, because all agents want are blockbuster books they can make money from.

Happy Release Day, Darkfall!

Darkfall officially releases today, yippee! How am I celebrating? Lunch with the hubby! Yep, I'm a wild one for sure. There's actually a lot of prep work for a release, so by the time it comes out I'm beat. The 30 days before and after are pretty full, and I have a huge To-Do List I delight in checking off. It's all fun stuff (well, mostly), but it does put a hold on just about everything else in my life. I can be wild later when it's all over.

On a related note, I'm doing a Q&A over at Charity's Writing Journey, so pop by and say hello. More guest posts and interviews coming up as well, and I'll keep you posted on those.


So, what's the book about? Kinda like this...

What You Reading For? Voice

By Tiffany Reisz, @tiffanyreisz

JH: Today, we welcome the always delightful and usually irreverent Tiffany Reisz back to the blog to share her thoughts on voice. She has a very intriguing tip that I've never heard before, but makes perfect sense when you hear it. Fair warning, she uses a few video clips as examples and some of the are NSFW for language reasons.  

Tiffany is the author of Seven Day Loan (currently available from Harlequin Spice Briefs) and THE SIREN (Mira Books, August 2012). Find her on Twitter at @tiffanyreisz, www.tiffanyreisz.com, or in her bed taking a nap with her clinically depressed cat Honeytoast.

Take it away Tiffany...

Real Life Diagnostics: Building a World That Sucks You in

Real Life Diagnostics is a recurring column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and I diagnose them on the blog. It’s part critique, part example, designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.

If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, check out the page for guidelines.

This week’s questions:

Does this works as a gripping enough opening? Does the world building hits you over the head or comes through the writing naturally?

On to the diagnosis…