When Real Life Collides with Fiction …
By SUE COLETTA Lately, I’ve been consumed by my WIP. It happens with every book. You know the drill. At a certain point something inside takes over. No more struggling, no more hair-pulling, no more...
View ArticleWounded Writer Syndrome
By Sue Coletta Being a writer can be traumatizing. Back in October I finished writing Silent Mayhem, a book that deeply affected me. Sure, I was passionate about the story — I wouldn’t have written it...
View Article7 Hard Truths of Working as a Professional Writer
By SUE COLETTA When we first begin our writing journey, our dreams often overshadow the realities of working as a professional writer. Which publishing path we chose (self-publishing or traditional)...
View ArticleFirst Page Critique: Watch All Night
By SUE COLETTA Another brave writer submitted their first page for critique. Enjoy. I’ll catch you on the flipside. WATCH ALL NIGHT It was the other buildings that looked sinister. They slumped against...
View ArticleELVIS PRESLEY — WHAT REALLY KILLED THE KING OF ROCK ‘N ROLL
By SUE COLETTA I invited my dear friend Garry Rodgers — retired homicide detective with a second career as a forensic coroner — to share a fascinating post about the real cause of Elvis Presley’s...
View ArticleAre Only Humans Creative? Plus, 6 Ways Creativity Improves Health
By SUE COLETTA My husband and I recently watched an excellent documentary on Netflix entitled The Creative Brain. “Neuroscientist David Eagleman taps into the creative process of various innovators...
View ArticleDid You Forget to Mention You’re a Writer?
Real life offers inspiration when we least expect it. That moment can also be awkward, especially if you forget to mention one crucial distinction between you and a psychopath: the word writer. A...
View ArticleWhich Word is Correct: Coffin or Casket?
By SUE COLETTA Last Friday I was editing what I wrote the day before in my WIP when a word stopped me cold: casket. Should that be coffin? The specific year in question is 1901, so I needed to figure …...
View ArticleFirst Page Critique: Singularity Syndrome
By Sue Coletta Another brave writer has submitted their first page for critique. I’ll see you on the flipside. Enjoy! Title: Singularity Syndrome It was just the kind of case I like. Someone was...
View ArticleCan Writers Lose Their Fingerprints?
By Sue Coletta In a recent chat with Jordan, she mentioned that when she went for her TSA pre-check ID for her upcoming trip, they couldn’t detect her digital fingerprints. They said since she spent so...
View ArticleWelcome to Murder 101: PG Halloween Edition
With Halloween arriving next week, murder is in the air. It might be the only time of year when “normal” people can fully relate to crime writers and readers. So, ladies and gents, grab your favorite...
View ArticleReader Friday: Scariest Book or Movie
Pick one or answer them all — your call! What’s the scariest book you’ve ever read, and why? Did you expect to be frightened or did the author surprise you in some way? What’s the scariest movie you’ve...
View ArticleHow To Invest Readers in Your Story: First Page Critique
By Sue Coletta Another brave writer has shared his/her first page for critique. Enjoy! My notes will follow. Traders Market Blowing up a house with five people inside wasn’t the best way to slip out of...
View ArticleWhat Is This Historic Mystery Stone?
By Sue Coletta One of my recent research trips led me to the New Hampshire Historical Society and Museum. I went there to copy two diaries — one from 1880, another from 1881 — written by a close family...
View ArticleExecutions Gone Wrong Or Divine Intervention?
If a prisoner survives multiple trips to the gallows, should he be set free? Miss Emma Anne Whitehead Keyse lived in “The Glen,” a small village of Babbacome, England, with her servants, Jane and Eliza...
View ArticleWhere Am I? — First Page Critique
By SUE COLETTA Another brave writer submitted their first page for critique. I’ll catch ya on the flipside. Enjoy! TITLE: Sonbgird chapter 1 I stood alone, ready to jump. A slow wavering breath parted...
View ArticleThe Pandemic Invades Fiction – Is it a Game Changer?
Jordan Dane@JordanDane The longer I am cooped up behind my four walls, the more my mind wanders on how every day life will be changed by a life threatening virulent pathogen. When I thought the lock...
View ArticleWord Porn
By SUE COLETTA It’s fun to see how words change over time. Their meanings transform, expand, and even metamorphose into a whole new meaning. These changes occur gradually over time. I find it...
View ArticleWhat Really Goes On In The Morgue
I invited my buddy, Garry Rodgers, back to TKZ for a fascinating behind-the-scenes trip to the morgue. He’ll hang around for questions/comments, so don’t be shy. Now’s your chance to ask an expert...
View ArticleWhen Corvids Go Rogue
By SUE COLETTA The following is a true story. While reading, take note of the bracketed MRUs [Motivation-Reaction Units in red] and scene/sequel structure in parenthesis (in blue), and my unrest can...
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