In January 2011, Kwang and I took a 120 day around the world cruise with ms Amsterdam in Holland America from Fort Lauderdale in Florida. On the ship we had about one thousand guests and about four hundred crew members. Jerry was a professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Stanford before his …
Category: Author’s Craft
Mar 10
Paranormal a Ghost Story
As I was sitting at Starbucks writing one morning, a man sitting next to me asked what I was writing. I answered Paranormal Romance. He responded, “Oh! You’re writing a ghost story.” I smiled and told him that paranormal these days didn’t necessarily mean a ghost story. I explained I was writing a vampire romance. …
Feb 27
What if?
There are many ways to come up with a story idea. Some of the best stories start with the simple question of what if? The what if can be reasonable, i.e., what if a boy meets a girl and they fall in love and then break up? Or the what if can be outlandish, i.e. …
Feb 23
What makes a story suspenseful?
Reality makes fiction writing suspenseful. That may sound like an oxymoron, but fiction also includes science fiction and fantasy, both of which skirt reality, and in so doing also skirt suspense. For example, ever met Superman? Me neither. His character is suspenseful though, and great fun to read or watch. But I know it is …
Feb 21
Finding Something to Write About
I think one of the hardest parts about writing is finding something to write about, especially if you decide to start thinking of a topic at your computer. There’s nothing like that large, blank, white piece of paper staring back at you from the screen to drive all the ideas that were playing at the …