21
Jun
5 Ways to Increase Your Story’s Tension
Is your story dragging? Learn these 5 strategies for increasing your story's tension to keep readers flying through the pages! Tension ...
21
Jun
6 Tips to Help You Get That Novel Written
Many people have a deep desire to write a novel but just can't seem to get it done. Here are six tips that should help.
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21
Jun
Adding Tension, Suspense, & Intrigue to Your Story
Are you in the process of writing a novel? Crime or suspense thriller? Or some other popular fiction you hope will grab readers attenti...
21
Jun
A Writer’s Journey
Figuring out how to get stuff done as a writer can be the most frustrating part of the writing. We all have personal weaknesses that dr...
21
Jun
CPO Web page
Anyone who has undergone the transition from Sailor to Chief Petty Officer will tell you it is a lot tougher and more challenging than ...
21
Jun
Beta Readers
Beta Readers are a great resource to tap into when you're done writing a draft of your story. Over the years, as I have collected lots ...
21
Jun
April Newsletter
I hope everyone is safe and doing well. I’ve gotten a few thousand emails from my readers asking why I haven’t finished the next Rebecc...
21
Jun
Creating a setting By Joe Moore
You’ve got an idea for a story, maybe even a book-length project. You’ve developed a clever plot and a strong set of characters. Now co...
21
Jun
Do You Suffer from Writers Block
Do you suffer from writer’s block?
Have you hit the wall? If so, you’re not alone. Most of us do from time to time. The words won’t ...
21
Jun
Don’t Bore Your Reader
A writer I’ve known for years asked me about an interesting topic. Why do readers abandon a book they’ve started? This is a great quest...
21
Jun
Don’t Muddle Your Story
After you’ve written your first (or second or third) draft, it’s time to go through your manuscript and cut out any unneeded words clut...
21
Jun
Finding your Writing Space
Writers write. It’s what we do. Easier said than done, right? There’s often too many distractions. Social media, family, television, li...
21
Jun
Foreshadowing. What is it and when should I use it
Foreshadowing. What an evil word, or is it?
Foreshadowing is a writing tool in which the author hints at what is to come next for th...
21
Jun
Head Hopping
One of the most difficult concepts for aspiring authors occurs when you bounce around from one character’s perspective to another, reve...
21
Jun
How to Use the Five Senses in Your Writing
For your story to come to life on the page, introduce your readers to the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Anythin...
21
Jun
Interrogation Techniques Part 2 Verbal Cues
Here’s a sample of an interrogation scene from one of my crime thrillers. I have written it in two parts. The first one is a transcript...
21
Jun
Interrogation Techniques Verbal Cues: Part One
Interrogations can be difficult to write. Too many writers get this wrong. This is usually due to the fact many people have only seen i...
21
Jun
January Newsletter
May the New Year bring you lots of happiness, joy, blah, blah, blah. Just kidding. But it’s hard to fathom 2023 is already here. As a k...
21
Jun
July Newsletter
I’m happy to announce The Kill Club was released this month. It was a lot of fun writing this book and I hope you, the reader, have fun...
21
Jun
June Newsletter
I’m happy to announce my new release, The Kill Club is coming out July 8th. A bit of warning. The Kill Club has a lot of violence in it...
21
Jun
Killer Nashville
I’ll be attending the Killer Nashville writers conference this year August 23-26. This will be my second year. Jeffery Deaver will be t...
21
Jun
Make Sure Your Characters Act in Character
DO YOUR CHARACTERS’ DECISIONS AND ACTIONS SEEM REALISTIC AND AUTHENTIC?
Have you ever been reading a story when suddenly the protago...
21
Jun
Plot Holes
Writers write. It's what we do. We’re driven to write. Getting through the first draft is a great, but it's only scratching the surface...
21
Jun
Merry Christmas
As I sit in my favorite chair, drinking coffee and working on my current novel, I realize I'm truly blessed. Although this year has bee...
21
Jun
Show Don’t Tell
What Does “Show, Don’t Tell” Mean?
Good writing tends to draw an image in the reader’s mind instead of just telling the reader what ...
21
Jun
September Newsletter
It’s been a while since I’ve sent out a Newsletter, and I’ve actually gotten e-mails through my website from people saying they look fo...
21
Jun
Should you join a Writers Group
I began writing my first crime thriller, Things Left Behind, in 2011. Being new to writing, what did I do? I bought a lot of How to boo...
21
Jun
Targeting enemy words
Writers are notorious for their love of words. Because of this, we have a hard time targeting certain words as enemies. If you don’t ta...
22
Jun
Writing Character Descriptions
The characters in our stories embody our writing. They are our thoughts and ideas that drift, bodiless and ethereal through space and t...
22
Jun
Writing Constructively
Writing constructively sounds simple enough, but the truth is, writing is tough. If the craft were easy, everyone would be doing it. Th...
22
Jun
Writing Epiphany
As I sit in Starbucks, drinking coffee and working on my current novel, I realize I've been truly blessed in my life. I have a loving f...
22
Jun
Writing Tecniques for Creating Tension
When writing fiction, tension is critical for reader engagement. As a writer, we want our readers to ‘not want to put the book down.’ W...
22
Jun
March Newsletter
March as you know is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Why? Because a lot of military campaigns began in the spring. Soldiers mar...
22
Jun
Happy Thanksgiving
First, thank you for all your emails, which I enjoy reading. Many of you have stated in your emails that you enjoy my newsletters and w...