Idea or Concept–What’s What?

By Nick Thacker I remember starting my first novel with an idea: “What if there was an ancient secret involving the ‘Golden Ratio,’ a number known to exist in many natural phenomena…” The idea was a germ; a small component of something larger — something that could eventually become an entire book. My story My…

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Writing Characters that are smarter than you

By Kevin Tumlinson Since I started publishing novels in 2008, I’ve become known for writing “character-driven fiction.” I write characters who essentially reach out from the page, grab me by the beard, and tell me where to go. It’s a curse and a blessing. One dominant trait for nearly all my protagonists is that they…

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