An eye-catching cover is essential for grabbing readers’ attention. It’s important that the cover be catchy and appealing while not being too busy. A cluttered cover can interfere with the readability of the words on the page. Importantly,
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A good title is a must. As the primary fiction selector for a large library system, I read dozens of book reviews from a variety of reviewing sources–Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus–to name a few. When I see books with banal,
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Indie Author Marketing: Writing from the Heart
Posted by Grace Mattioli in Indie Author Series | 0 commentsI’m a librarian and select fiction for a large library system so I’m constantly reading book reviews in the subject area of fiction. I see many books by authors who seem to be jumping whatever current bandwagon is popular. I’m
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When I dream, my subconscious mind is creating stories from various random things, people and events that have been thrown my way in my waking life. The stories are sometimes funny and sometimes scary and always weird and nonsensical. My
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Fiction Books about Happiness: To Rise Above
Posted by Grace Mattioli in Finding Happiness | 0 commentsThe theme of transcendence is explored within my novels as I am very passionate about this subject. I believe it is possible to live in the world while occasionally being able to rise above it, and that this is essential for one’s
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Tips for Writing Fiction: Believable Dialogue
Posted by Grace Mattioli in Writing Craft | 0 commentsReaders will not be able to suspend disbelief if dialogue is not believable. Dialogue must flow naturally from the mouths of the characters and must be in keeping with the qualities, characteristics and motivations of characters. The Grecos are
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Following the rules of writing effective opening scenes is vital so that readers will be able to suspend disbelief. Readers must be grounded in the protagonist’s point of view in the beginning of a story. They must see the world through
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Fiction Books about Happiness: Musical Novels
Posted by Grace Mattioli in Finding Happiness | 0 commentsThe theme of music is in my two previous novels and will be a major theme in my forthcoming novel. In Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees, Silvia listens to music while she paints. Music inspires her: “The music seemed to go right
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Tips for Writing Fiction: Creating Three Dimensional Characters
Posted by Grace Mattioli in Writing Craft | 0 commentsI wrote my first story when I was ten years old. It was called The Magic Pen. This story was about a pen, that when used, created stories and poetry without the use of any human input as if a sacred power came through the ink of the pen. I
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Tips for Writing Fiction: How my words teach me
Posted by Grace Mattioli in Writing Craft | 1 commentI write fiction for many reasons. It’s fun; it gives me joy; it makes me sane; I feel a need to tell stories to the world. I also write so that I can learn life’s lessons. In Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees, Silvia learns
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