Let’s face it: attending an in-person writing conference is expensive. That’s why it’s crucial to choose the right conference. After my debut thriller, MULTO, was acquired, ThrillerFest was at the top of my short list of conferences to attend.

A good thriller is like a layer cake—stack upon stack of delicious goodness that infuses social meaning apart from the plot. I learned to write my debut thriller, MULTO, like a layer cake the hard way.

Writing short stories offers many advantages to the budding novelist. It can help build your credentials as a fiction writer and establish a readership. For me, there was an unexpected benefit – experimentation that led to publication.

Most writing teachers advise newcomers to stick to one genre. That’s a great rule to follow if your book is a hit. I discovered that if you don’t make it in one genre, trying another is the wiser choice. 

Power imbalance between men and women in intimate relationships often manifests when there’s a huge difference in their ages, incomes, or cultural backgrounds. What happens when two people are in love but they are vastly different in all three areas? In the case of General Douglas MacArthur’s little-known affair with a young Filipino actress, it was a calamity.

Bogey and Bacall. JFK and Jackie. McQueen and MacGraw. These famous couples had wide age gaps. Add to that list Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the Filipino actress Isabel Rosario Cooper, whose romantic affair in the 1930s broke all taboos. In this article, I rounded up 10 of the most captivating May-December relationships over the years.

I don’t disagree with Henry Miller when he said, “Writing is its own reward.” I also believe that writers should be compensated fairly for their labor. Of all types of writing, fiction writing gets the least respect. Most people consider it a hobby (read: nonpaying job) because they have no idea how hard it is.

If you’re wondering whether to pursue writing, we can go over some of the most common myths about publication to help you make your decision.

The first thing a reader of a novel wants to know is the main character, according to best-selling suspense author Hank Phillippi Ryan.  If you’re writing a novel, she said your opening page must have these four important things.

When it comes to describing the physical qualities of your characters, how much is too much? Elmore Leonard advised writers to “avoid detailed descriptions of characters.” He used Ernest Hemingway’s work as an example. While the minimalist style of Hemingway and Raymond Carver can be very effective, there are many writers whose works show that descriptive writing can be equally powerful.