Before I wrote fiction I was a book editor and cover designer, and I spent a decade telling other authors what to do. Then I tried it myself and found out how much harder it is from the inside. These posts are the notes from that: how I plot, where I post, what I got wrong about self-publishing, and the YA tricks that keep working no matter how many people complain about them. Nothing here is theory. It is what I did, and what happened.
Writing the book
- How to write a thrilling fantasy novel The plotting advice I used to give authors, applied to my own 25+ books.
- How to defeat writer’s block for good (advanced plotting) I never had writer’s block until I tried fiction. This is how I got out.
- First chapters and pilot episodes: how to hook with story What giving feedback on sample chapters and watching the Roswell reboot taught me about openings.
- Starting with a bang: how important is conflict in the first chapter? My books are not thrillers, so how do I open them?
- How to start your book with sex and gore without becoming melodramatic Visceral openings that hook instead of embarrass.
- Beyond metaphor: how to implant visual images in readers’ brains Written 25,000 words into my first Nanowrimo, about the one thing I was struggling with.
- How to be a “good” writer (tips from a book editor) You do not have to be a good writer to be a professional author. Here is what matters instead.
- How to write books that readers love My first passion project failed. The lesson is in the failure.
- The two types of creative exhaustion Why you are tired, and which kind of tired it is.
- Best books on writing (improve your craft) The highlights of my big list of craft books.
Writing young adult fiction
- How to write a YA novel (the beginning) Half of all YA books start with a move and a new school. Here is how that first day usually goes.
- Every YA novel goes like this The choosing ceremony, the lack of freedom, the rebellion. The skeleton, laid out.
- A bestselling YA fiction template, inspired by the Goosebumps movie Why avoiding tropes rarely works in popular fiction, and what to do instead.
- What YA romance books can teach us about teenage girls Reading the cliches on purpose, to learn what readers actually want.
- What Tomorrowland taught me about writing YA dystopian time travel From the stretch when I was hitting 5,000 words a day.
- Why zombie novels are so easy to write, and what that taught me about story A zombie-cruise plot idea, and the structural lesson hiding inside it.
- My YA novel just went NA: how much darkness can teens handle? When the mermaid romance got darker than the category allows.
Publishing, marketing and finding readers
- Best places to post your writing and grow a fan base The platforms that actually bring readers, for serials, feedback or a launch.
- How to self-publish a book (my personal journey) What I learned starting from scratch in 2016, even with a decade of publishing work behind me.
- How to self-publish a book in 2016 The plan I made when I started, and which goals I missed.
- Book cover design (DIY templates and AI covers) From a former cover designer: how to get a cover that sells without paying for mine.
- What to blog about as an author This site rotted for years. Here is what finally made it worth updating.
- Any YA authors using Wattpad really well? My experiment with Wattpad as a reader funnel.
- Free book marketing for YA authors during free campaign days Why “email blasts” rarely work, and the alternative I offered authors.
- YA Authors Alliance (750+ authors) The free community of young adult authors I started to help each other find readers.
- YA authors collective The reader funnels and genre sites I set up with other indie YA authors.
- Frankfurt Book Fair: YA/NA authors wanted The booth idea from the year of the castle.
- Publish with us An old idea I later talked myself out of, with the reason why.
Writing life: castles, travel, Harry Potter
- Nanowrimo castle (writing retreat) Kindle sales paid for two castles and a month of cowriting with other authors.
- I’m renting a castle to write my next book The French chateau the first time, and what came next.
- JK Rowling’s favorite bookstore My MA thesis was on esoteric symbolism in Harry Potter, so Portugal was a pilgrimage.
- On the Harry Potter trail in Edinburgh Will power, ceremonial magic, and the cafes where the books were written.
- Why I hate Bali Two months on the island, and why the second visit was not the first.
- Chinese New Year magic How I ended up in Taiwan instead of Japan.
- Welcome (start here) Who I am and why I write YA.
If you write fantasy or YA and want to see how I apply this, my books are on the books page and the first chapters are free in the samples.
More on Urban Epics: mermaid lore, scary stories and monsters, mythology guides, ancient history, YA book lists, my books and free chapters.
WORK IN PROGRESS...
