The Athletic Mind-set for Writers

by Sherri Burr

SherriBurr

In May 2009, I took a research trip to France that included a trip to the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros. At the time, I was putting the finishing touches on a book chapter called “Athletes as Television Celebrities: Why we watch,




Revising Fiction: Render Your Setting Effectively

by Kirt Hickman

Revising Fiction

Every scene you write will take place somewhere. In other words, every scene will have a setting. You must transport your readers to that setting. How do you do that effectively?

Determine Setting Elements

First,




Steven T. Murray and Tiina Nunnally: On Translating and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

by Joanne Matzenbacher

Steven T. Murray and Tiina Nunnally are a husband and wife team who make their living as literary translators of Scandinavian languages into English. Steven (using the pseudonym Reg Keeland) is well known for translating the Millennium series,




Grammatically Correct: To Comma or Not to Comma

by Dodici Azpadu

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If writers understand the basic rules for comma usage, they will not worry about unnecessary commas. However, some people prefer to operate by what not to do. That’s why even the most rigorous grammar texts include sections on unnecessary commas.




Joint Authorship: Professional Marriages Made in Heaven or Hell

by Sherri Burr

SherriBurrJoint author collaborations can be as complicated as marriages, and last as long or as briefly. Jimmy and Rosalind Carter survived a multi-decade marriage before deciding to co-author a book. They raised several children,




An Interview with Author RJ Mirabal

RJ Mirabal is a New Mexico native and former high school English teacher whose debut novel The Tower of Il Serrohe was published in 2012 by Black Rose Writing. The Tower was a finalist in the science fiction/fantasy category of the 2013 New Mexico/Arizona book awards.




Revising Fiction: 5 Goals of an Opening Scene

by Kirt Hickman

Revising Fiction

Your opening scene must accomplish several things:

Make it clear from the outset who your hero is

Write the first scene of Chapter 1 from your hero’s point of view.




Grammatically Correct: Fixing Run-on Sentences

by Dodici Azpadu

061957-firey-orange-jelly-icon-people-things-people-singing200Complex and compound sentences add depth and nuance to writing, but they must be constructed and connected correctly; otherwise, the errors make us look like amateurs.

This is a run-on sentence it contains two independent clauses incorrectly connected.




James McGrath Morris Getting Strong Reviews for “Eye on the Struggle”

by Bob Gassaway

Eye on the Struggle2Santa Fe writer James McGrath Morris, who will be the speaker for the March 7, 2015 meeting of SouthWest Writers, is garnering high praise for his new book Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne,




5 Steps to Master the Art of Interviewing

by Sherri Burr

SherriBurrWriters interview. It is one of our most important research techniques. We interview for background information about characters or settings, to obtain quotes to enhance our stories, and for profiles. Use the following five steps to make your interviews successful.




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