Writing Archives | NINC

Tropes, characters, and story What do you think of when you hear the word trope? Do you think of a story building block? Or an overused concept? These days, we hear about tropes often, but the meaning is less specific. Some writers love them, while others loathe them. One constant is that tropes are a storytelling staple stemming from fairy and folk tales. Tropes are valuable storytelling build…

The life of a modern author is filled with decisions. What story do I write next? Do I stick with this genre I love or transition to something more profitable? Should I dive into direct sales? More options and control over our careers can be freeing and exciting, but that level of freedom can also be overwhelming. How many times have you come away from a conference feeling energized and ready t…

Poet. Journal writer. Image-maker. These are just a few of the creative guises I slipped into as I embarked on an inward journey in search of my newest set of fictional characters. What I hungered to discover was what is truthful and powerful in my own world view. Once I unearthed that profound truth, I wanted to know how best I could weave it into a story through memorable characters. With thi…

I have to open with a story. There I am, working on the 14th novel in my Miranda Chase air-crash-investigation thriller series. I wanted the U.S.-based characters to be near the opening action in Sweden, but not in the fray yet. Training? Vacation? Hmm… do they ever go to conferences? Google led me to the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI). They meet globally once a year …

In January 2020, the novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins hit bookstores after months of positive reviews and being selected to Oprah’s Book Club. Then Latinx critics called out the book detailing a Mexican bookseller crossing the U.S. border to escape a drug cartel as perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Cummins is not Mexican, although claims Puerto Rican heritage, and critics repeated what th…

I recently finished writing my 18th book. To some that makes me a baby writer, but to others it’s seasoned writer territory. Wherever you fall on that scale, I think we can all agree that by book 18 you’ve probably figured out the basic structure of a book and reader expectations for your genre. That doesn’t mean you won’t run into issues while writing. My issue with book 18 was that I could no…