JD Byrne was born and raised around Charleston, West Virginia, before spending seven years in Morgantown getting degrees in history and law from West Virginia University. He’s practiced law for more than 15 years, writing briefs where he has to…
Monthly Archives: July 2015
Dogs
Dogs are truly amazing. My favorites have always been collies, although it must be admitted that they’re no good when it comes to chasing deer away. I was incredibly frustrated several years back, because I had not one, but two…
Hunted
I spun my horse; the damned hounds had finally caught me. The horse was stolen, which would be enough by itself to draw the hangman’s noose around my neck. My eyes searched the circle of mounted men who surrounded me,…
Posted in Uncategorized
Backstory Is Not Story
That might work in a cartoon, but you just can’t start your story with backstory. It seems like such a pity. The easiest solution is to start at the beginning and when we get to the end, stop. And y’know,…
Tagged with: backstory, beta readers, Cathleen Townsend, character, description, exposition, name soup
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Editing for Passive Voice
Passive voice is pervasive and often unwise. This post will involve a quick grammar lesson, but I’ll keep it short. Promise. Most sentences of any length involve a subject and an object. The subject does the acting; the object is…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, object, passive voice, present participle, subject
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Interview with Allison Maruska
Allison Maruska has been a blogger since March, 2012 and a started writing novels a year later. She is the author of The Fourth Descendant, an Amazon best-selling historical mystery. She’s a mom, a teacher, an avid coffee and wine…
Tagged with: Allison Marushka, blog, Cathleen Townsend, interview, revision, The Fourth Descendant
Posted in Author Interviews
Posted in Author Interviews
Looking For Opinions
So, this post is going to be somewhat different. I’ve discovered that writing this blog every day is really sapping my writing energy. I just don’t think I can write about writing every day and still keep it intelligent and…
Posted in Uncategorized
The Latest, Greatest, Shiny Idea
Mostly, writers love plot bunnies. They show up, wriggling their metaphoric noses and we’re delighted. We can’t sleep until we get started. This is going to be the best story idea yet. And then at some point, six or twelve…
Kill Your Darlings
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” Stephen King, On Writing. This particular quote seems to have passed into common usage. It’s a phrase often heard when a writer…
Tagged with: beta readers, Cathleen Townsend, critique, developing plot and characters, feedback, kill your darlings
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Cathleen Townsend 