Month: September 2017

My Favorite Author is a Hack

REBLOGGED! When I grow up, should I be a “hack writer”. I love the author of dysfunctionalliteracy.com.

Dysfunctional Literacy

Angry Talk (Comic Style) If you call a writer a hack, this is the response you might get. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Is it just me, or has Stephen King become a hack?” I asked a bunch of my peers in a writer’s group a few years ago.

I’m often surprised at what makes people snap.  I had figured that if I stayed away from politics and religion in my group’s post-writing-critique discussion, that we  would be safe from any potential group-splitting controversy.

I was expecting an even-handed response (you know, because we writers have such stable personalities).

Instead, another writer snapped at me, saying, “Stephen King has forgotten more about writing than you’ll ever know.”

That was true, and it was kind of my point.  Yes, Stephen King had indeed forgotten a lot about writing, and he was demonstrating that in his recent novels.

When I had started that discussion moments earlier, I was just asking…

View original post 831 more words

Status on My Agent Search

I can totally relate to this author. I recently submitted a polished and critiqued manuscript to an agent. Their website states that their response time is no more than 8 weeks. Well, this particular agent responded to me within 24 hours. One day. I had a sinking feeling that it wasn’t good news. 😦 Well, I was right. He rejected it sweetly, politely, and implied that he was the problem. God, I felt like I was the hopeless lover in some bad romcom where the guy professes, “It’s not you. It’s me.”
LOL. 🙂

D.L. Morrese

With completion of my ninth novel, I decided to try turning my writing hobby into more of a vocation. After all, my previous books are doing all right. Reader reviews (for which I am immensely grateful) are averaging above four stars, and I am receiving small but consistent royalties. I wondered if it might be time for me to go from ‘indie’ to ‘pro.’ I figured the first step is to find an agent.

So, rather than jumping into designing a cover and reformatting my latest completed manuscript for publication, I began searching for an agent. There aren’t as many as I had thought. I found only 28 that: a) were open to new submissions, b) represented the types of books I write, and c) are seemingly reputable. I may have missed some, but using the resources available to me, that’s all I could come up with.

Over the last…

View original post 253 more words

12 questions to help you develop Gods/religion in your fantasy novel

Reblogged this! So helpful. Thank you, Susan! 🙂

Into Another World

religionWhen I wrote my The Elemental trilogy, I decided right off that I didn’t want to deal with religion. So there is no mention of gods, and there is no church in my story, and it works fine.  However, in many fantasy novels, religion is an integral part of the plot.

Adding religion to your novel can be a source of tension between characters. A war can be because of religious differences. The reason your protagonist or antagonist does something can be based in their religious beliefs. Even prophecies can come from religious writings.

Religion can make your make-believe world’s culture come alive. If your story takes place on Earth, you can study the religion of that time period or region, but if you are creating your own world, you will have more work. (Check out beliefnet.com for information on real-world religions.) But as with every aspect of world building…

View original post 333 more words