writing fiction

What do the novels Huckleberry Finn, The Canterbury Tales and On The Road have in common?  All of these great works of fiction employ the literary technique known as the journey motif.  Although the journey that the characters of these stories

In my previous novel, Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees, the theme of my book was peace.  The primary plot was Silvia attempting to make peace in her own family, while the subplot was her finding direction in her own life.  Her finding

It took me awhile to cultivate my own voice, as I’m sure it takes all writers a long time.  It was not until I began writing on a daily basis that I began to hear my own voice.  I found that the more I wrote, the more my voice developed, and the

One review of Olive Branches Don’t Grow On Trees claimed that the ending of the book was inconclusive and that I left too many loose ends.  The ending is open and I intentionally left it open so that the reader could use his or her imagination

Most people have had the experience of reading a book and having that book stay with them well after they have finished it.  This after-feeling is something that can keep a reader thinking about a book and wanting more from the particular author

The Greco family is, in ways, beyond mildly dysfunctional, for the patriarch of this family is a severe alcoholic.  Frank’s alcoholism has profound effects upon all of the family members.  It affects them both individually and as a group.  Each

Artists who wait for inspiration to strike spend a lot of time waiting.  I know this because I was formerly such an artist.  I believed that I should not force my writing, but that I should let it come to me naturally.  I thought that discipline

If characters had nothing to struggle against, they would stay the same.  They wouldn’t transform and grow and arc.  A character changes because she is either in conflict against another person, or herself or the world.  In Olive Branches

In several reviews of my book, readers mentioned that they were invested in the novels characters’ and that they really cared about what happened to them.  This feeling of concern is what motivates readers to stay with a book and to turn the

All people– writers and non-writers– are storytellers.  We tell ourselves stories each and every day and the stories that we tell ourselves shape our perceptions of the world in which we live.  I’ve become keenly aware of the