Meradeth’s never been a big fan of talking about herself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about her: She’s a Northern California girl, now braving the cold winters in Montana. When she’s not writing,…
Monthly Archives: July 2015
Interview with Meradeth Houston
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, characters, Meradeth Houston, setting, Travelers, upcoming works, world-building
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Synonyms for Look and Walk
Is there an easier word to overuse than look? If you’re not careful, it’ll take over your manuscript. A judicious use of synonyms can help. Notice the qualifier. If your characters are using a synonym for look every other paragraph,…
A Different Kind of Story Prompt
Today’s post will be short because I found out about this brilliant thing yesterday. There’s not a ton to say, but it’s really worth a post on its own. I discovered it on Twitter, and it seriously made all the…
Interview with Elizabeth Welsford
Elizabeth Welsford is the author of the IPPY-winning The Five Step Plan. She’s a mom, culinary adventurer, and single malt scotch aficionado who has become obsessed with writing historical fiction. For the past few years, she’s made it her business to learn…
Tagged with: characters, comedy, Elizabeth Welsford, hysteria, interview, pelvic massage, revision, The Five Step Plan
Posted in Author Interviews
Posted in Author Interviews
Facing Fear
In some ways, it seems silly to write about this topic in connection with being a writer. What am I afraid of anyway? It’s not as though I’m going into battle. Nobody’s going to wave a sword or a gun…
Interview with R.L. King
R. L. King is an indie author and game freelancer for Catalyst Game Labs, publisher of the popular role-playing game Shadowrun. She has contributed fiction and game material to numerous source books, as well as one full-length adventure, “On the Run,”…
Tagged with: interview, R.L. King, Stone and a Hard Place, The Forgotten
Posted in Author Interviews
Posted in Author Interviews
Writing What You Know
This is common advice, along with write from your heart. But sometimes, when things are said in sound bites, it’s easy to become confused. After all, if we only write what we directly know, we could never have a story set…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, character, research, setting, writing what you know
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Point-of-View–Which One Should I Use?
Authors have many options when it comes to choosing the character lens through which readers will view their stories. Each one has its own strengths and pitfalls. First person–this happens to by my go-to POV, the one that I feel…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, first person, omnicient, second person, third-person limited
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Nat Russo on Adverbs and ‘Show, Don’t Tell’
I’ve seen many authors struggle with the adage ‘show, don’t tell.’ Some try to show everything, and their story gets so bogged down in description that the story takes place at a glacial crawl. And while I agree that showing…
Criticism: Friend or Foe?
Criticism can be either helpful or destructive, depending on the state of mind of the critiquer and the writer receiving it. Writing takes enormous amounts of both self-confidence and humility. You have to think your words are worthwhile, or you’ll…
Cathleen Townsend 