Celebrating Independent Authors
Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.
I’ll try to make this short and to the point. I’m going to talk briefly about something that is either (A) a worthless timewaster or (B) the next big thing.
As always, I’ll put out my disclaimer— I’m not an expert in Klout. I happen to toy with it and, more or less, actively participate. Behind the scenes here at Indies Unlimited, there were discussions as to what, who, how and why of Klout, so here we go. Continue reading “Should you have Klout?”
One question I dread to hear is: What is your book about? I should be happy that someone is curious enough to ask, but in truth, it’s akin to that point in a job interview when a person says: Tell me about yourself. I want to point to my resume and say it’s all there, can’t you just read it? I want to hand potential readers a bookmark or a preview booklet or a page of review excerpts or send them my video trailer or website — everything I created to avoid having to say it out loud — but the question inevitably comes. So, even though I’ve written my spiel and practiced it for hours, when a person asks what The Neurology of Angels is about, I usually end up mumbling something like, ”Oh, well, there’s this neurologist and a little girl with a rare disease, and, you know, he’s trying to cure her, and um, it’s hard to do, and it’s kind of expensive, what with the monkeys and all, and, well, yeah…” Continue reading “What is Your Book About? by Krista Tibbs”
Lia Fairchild describes herself as ‘a native Californian who loves reading, writing, movies, and anything else related to the arts. She holds a B.A. degree in Journalism and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Her most enjoyable moments are spent with her family, traveling, spending time outdoors, or simply laughing and being together’.
Despite her busy schedule, she manages to find time to write and has written a novel – her first – In Search Of Lucy; short stories; and a series of short murder mystery stories called A Hint of Murder, which she has compiled into an anthology. Continue reading “Spotlight on…Lia Fairchild”
I want to talk about endings. How important they are, obviously; but more because I simply want to share some of my favourites. A lazy post, in a way, but perhaps a fun or enjoyable one. I love a well-crafted passage of writing, wherever it occurs in a book, and most who love language would probably concur. Yet more satisfying and occasionally beautiful still are those final lines of a novel that both summon and summarize the themes and rhythms of the entire narrative in a handful of incredibly wrought, startling, sorrowful exquisite, elegiac sentences.
Some quotes stand alone, gorgeous synecdoches; others require the full context of the preceding novel. No matter. Beauty is beauty, and in my own writing I use these as perhaps unattainable benchmarks for how I want my language to develop and move throughout a piece. I say unattainable, because for me a sublime failure is still more interesting than a bland success. If I had written anything even approaching the brilliance of any of these, I might just retire happy… or not. Yeah, probably not. I offer these without commentary or void even of my usual lame attempts at humour. Savour them and please add your own favourites in the comments section.
(It ought to go without saying, really, but here there be spoilers!) Continue reading “Ten Endings”