By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky Study writing long enough, and you’ll hear someone talk about complex characters and the importance of believable villains, the significance of sympathetic slime-balls. Anyone can craft a one-dimensional bad-guy bent on world domination, but it takes a certain sense of subtlety to create a character we…

By James Hannibal @jamesrhannibal Aaron banked his F-35 hard, dodging orange streaks of anti-aircraft fire. A ZSU-23-4. Where had that come from? “Vega Zero One, this is Two. Sparkle the threat—half a klick north of the burning tank. I’m clear to the west, angels three thousand.” “Vega One copies. Contact…

by Lindsey Bracket @LindsBrac Back in the days of face-to-face classes, I took a workshop at a writer’s studio with Joshilyn Jackson, a NYT bestselling author. I’ve long admired her work and her kindness—Joss is actually one of the first writers who embraced me as a newbie, offering valuable advice.…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills If you’re like me, writing can be a war zone. Every day I march to my computer and battle with words. Sometime I carry the flag and stand on my desk and scream victory. And other times I hide under my desk and cower like a…

By Penny Reeve I’ve been de-cluttering lately. Possibly because I find sorting things a strangely therapeutic feeling, and with the whole family learning, working and studying from home, I’ve been in need of some of that! But also because the decluttering is long overdue! My ‘dump-everything-here’ cupboard was nearing the…

By Ramona Richards  @RamonaRichards A few weeks ago, I had a lengthy conversation with an author about those greatest of author expectations: sales. Oh, we all dream of receiving “The Call” (or more likely these days, The Email), celebrating that first contract, having those great marketing moments and interactions with…