Tag: writing
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Level Up Your Writing: What Authors Can Learn from Video Games
Like most writers, I’m always on the hunt for inspiration. Seeking a spark for their next story, some writers devour books, watch movies or tv shows, and travel to new or exciting places. But there’s another treasure trove I’ve found for inspiration: video games. Full disclosure: I’m an avid gamer. I played video games when…
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Next Newsletter Issue Coming Friday…
Back in 2022, I launched a quarterly newsletter called “Berneta’s Reading Misfits.” While I’m great at keeping Waking Writer up-to-date, I’m not as stellar about keeping a steady newsletter for those interested in my own books and writings. But there’s no better time than the present to make some changes, eh? In past issues of…
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Full Circle by Vered Neta
When Russians invade Prague, a young medical student kills a soldier in self-defense. As authorities hunt for her, she is smuggled beyond The Iron Curtain sneaks across borders to reach the USA, where, twenty years later, she shares her story of struggle and hope with her daughter. When the Berlin Wall falls in 1989 and…
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Vered Neta, author of Things We Do for Love
What are some day jobs you have held? I’ve always been drawn to books. I was a “book nerd” even before that expression existed. However, I started writing only at the ripe age of 57 after having, as I call it, 3 Past Lives in this lifetime. I’ve been an archaeologist, a top manager in…
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Frank Giammanco by Lord of the Wood
When did you first consider yourself a writer? From the time I was in elementary school. I remember my fourth-grade teacher asking us to write an essay about Thanksgiving and I wound up writing a story about a talking turkey. My teacher got such a kick out of it that she had me read it…
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Challenges of Writing Fantasy (and How to Avoid Pulling Out All Your Hair)
Last year, I began my work-in-progress: a fantasy about a struggling actor who stumbles into a parallel world. Not only is the novel my first portal fantasy, but it has some typical fantasy tropes, such as taverns, lots of travel and quests, sorcerers and magics, were-people, etc. Unlike my previous novels, which fall more into…
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Madhushree Das, author of When the Mystic Meets a Starfish
What inspires you to write? The beauty of words and then the blending of that beauty of words into a life-giving line inspires me to write. It often has that call of the soul effect on me that at times the holistic approach of the writing process itself inspires me to write. My writing process…
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Writing Compelling Dialogue: One Author’s Process
Dialogue can make or break a story. Writing compelling dialogue is a crucial aspect of crafting engaging and believable characters in fiction. I’ve read books with too little dialogue and, consequently, found them to be snooze-fests. On the flip side, I’ve read books with too much bad dialogue, and they were virtually unreadable. My preferences…
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A Letter from the Editor: Looking Forward to an Exciting 2023
Dear Readers, I hope you are enjoying the content here at Waking Writer. Since I started this site in 2016, Waking Writer has become quite a hub for indie authors looking for more exposure. Last year was a busy year as promotion requests poured in! This year, you can expect more fascinating interviews, book highlights,…
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Conversation Highlights from the August #AuthorIndieSpeak
On Thursday, August 25, 2022, Cendrine Marrouat and I hosted our second #AuthorIndieSpeak chat on Twitter, where we invited indie authors to meet and discuss random things related to writing and publishing. We had a robust conversation with indie authors around the United States, Canada, and Britain! We discussed all manner of things, including how…
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