I am humbled to be a Guest of Honor at Bouchercon 2024 this week. So, in honor of all the wonderful authors I am meeting this weekend, I’ll share with you the common questions I’m getting from writers as I appear on panels, walk the halls, and generally interact with...
So, writer, you are your boss. And what is it that a boss might have that an employee who is told what to do every day might not have? Self-discipline. You must put your butt in the chair, as some say—every day. I'm getting asked many questions as we go through Killer...
We don’t have to know how the gas stove works. We use it. It has its function. But it is not the same with our mind and our life. We don’t want to use our life (and we certainly don’t want someone else to use it). We want to enjoy it. We want to experience it. We want...
I knew little about business when I started my first company at fourteen years old. Surprisingly, I made money at it. I had a camera, a sound recorder, a manual typewriter, and a heavy imagination. I traveled to businesses, telling them I’d like to make commercials...
As a former owner of a successful publicity and marketing company, I've accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience. Recently, I've been reflecting on some fundamental principles that I used to guide my team. These principles are not only essential but also have...
What is a story? Stories, with their profound ability to shape our understanding of life, are the very essence of our existence. Stories help us understand the world. From early infancy, stories are a part of our world. It is how we learn. Stories are more than just...
So, you're considering writing a book or becoming an author, but you're unsure where to start. Let's address some of the most common questions I receive as the founder of the Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference; the #1 voted writers’ conference in the...
We have two things we should guard: time and health. We are all super busy in a world where technology is supposed to make everything easier. Technology opens opportunities and bombards us with offers. It overwhelms our time, distracts our attention from important...
Throughout history, there have been differing beliefs about the source of creativity. In ancient times, creativity was believed to be a gift from the gods, beyond human capacity. The Renaissance shifted this belief, attributing creative power to individual human...
It's important to remember the following: It's easy, perhaps too easy, to let our egos grow in the writing business. When readers, agents, or publishers praise our work, or when we receive a great review or sell a million books, it's natural to feel elated. However,...