By Jan S. Gephardt When G. and I planned out this month’s blog posts, I eagerly volunteered to write about indie women of science fiction. That was before I realized how few of us there are. Ironically, it was not that hard to find female sf writers among the traditionally published. I highlighted several of my favorites in the “First Impressions” post at the beginning of the month. But until I actually looked beyond my two favorite indies, I hadn’t…
By G. S. Norwood Male authors, including Edgar Allen Poe, Wilkie Collins, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, were pioneers in crime fiction—a genre which arose in the mid to late 1800s. Even Charles Dickens tried his hand, with his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. But, from femmes fatales to the distraught daughters of the landed gentry, there has usually been a mystery woman at the heart of any crime novel. And it wasn’t long before women began to…
By G. S. Norwood Good opening sentences are like pickup lines at a bar. An author wants you to spend some pleasant time with her book. Maybe develop a lasting relationship with her characters. What can she say in that moment when your eye first meets her page? How should she start a romance with her reader, as well as a romance between her characters? Today I want to look at some of the pickup lines that helped me start…
By Jan S. Gephardt They say first impressions are important. As a writer, I’d say that goes for the first lines of stories, too. Lots of great books and stories open with ho-hum first lines. But I deeply admire a great opening line. I often kick off a new month with a collection of illustrated quotations. This month, I’ve put my own spin on a related idea that I got from a friend, Lynette M. Burrows. Her excellent blog regularly…