Selecting the Right Subject and Location for Your First Novel by Marc McGuire One of the many challenges facing the debut novelist is to select the appropriate subject matter and the optimal setting. Your mind may already contain vivid snapshots of your characters and exciting fragments of your plot, but you may not yet have […]

The Magic of the Cage-Free Character by Michael Kahn Cage-free characters do not arrive in novels prepackaged and preprogrammed. But when a cage-free character does forge his way into existence, an author can count himself as lucky. And I do mean very lucky… So what is a cage-free character? He or she typically starts off […]

Top 10 Female Sleuths by Melinda Leigh Each of the characters in this top ten list features a female sleuth who stars in her own series. This list is in no way comprehensive. I love far too many books to list them all here, but the following heroines have stuck with me for a variety […]