Helping authors to make their stories shine … Editing Services for fiction and memoir
Ever wondered what it takes to write a gritty thriller? As the title suggests, Sister Butcher Sister features sisters and gruesome crime. In this discussion with author K.D. Aldyn, we delve into her inspiration, her unique nomadic lifestyle and the impact of writing violence. Continue reading K.D. Aldyn on writing gritty thrillers
Pat is a successful business owner who specializes in strategic leadership and change. He works with a variety of organisations, assisting their senior leaders to develop innovative strategies for achieving success.
He has trained with British paratroopers, and travelled broadly, spending time in Russia, Scandinavia, Southeast Asia, the Nevada desert, and North Africa. His exposure to the military and intelligence sectors brings a disturbing reality to his debut novel The Minerva Agenda. Continue reading P.D. McShane on Spies, Conspiracies and The Minerva Agenda
Our recent trip to the Ningaloo Coast was so memorable that I’ve jotted down the key points in case anyone is considering a visit and wants to know where we stayed and what we did. If that’s you, or you just want to hear more about our adventures while visiting this unique place, read on. Continue reading The Ningaloo Coast
In the first part of this blog series, Writing a Mystery: Introducing Jade Riley, I introduced the protagonist for The Godfather of Dance. A journalist by trade, Jade hails from Melbourne and has a past tinged with the tragedy of her best friend’s death. Today, I share how I am developing the Jade Riley Mystery Series, and how I envision future books. Of course, this will almost certainly change along the way due to factors beyond my control or my evolving creative preferences. Continue reading Writing a Mystery: Crafting a Series
Lisa Darcy, author and writing coach, has just led an amazing writers’ retreat in Tuscany. Join us to hear about this and her latest novel, The Pact, which features sisters who are also doubles tennis champions. What could possibly go wrong in such a situation? Quite a bit as it turns out. Darcy takes us on a wild ride that is alternately victorious, heart-breaking and uplifting, and will leave you wanting the best for both sisters. Continue reading Lisa Darcy on Tuscany and Tennis
Jade is an everyday hero. In the first book, she’s a rookie journalist with more ambition than experience, more passion than finesse. She’s Australian, from my hometown, Melbourne, but she’s living in The Woodlands, Texas, a satellite suburb of Houston, where she works for a local newspaper. By no coincidence, this is where I lived with my family for five years. She’s also passionate about ballroom and Latin dance. Continue reading Writing a Mystery: Introducing Jade Riley
While in Texas, I decided to do some research for my next novel, in which (spoiler alert) my protagonist may have to fire a gun. I needed to know how shooting feels, sounds, looks, and smells. Continue reading Five Learnings from Firing a Shotgun
In our last interview, following the success of her trilogy, Infiltrating the Ton, Sara introduced us to her second series, The Diamond Dynasty, which follows the loves and adventures of the Klonimus brothers. She has now published the second and third books in this series, In Eternal Love and In Tune With His Heart, which besides romance, offer the excitement and dangers of a treasure hunt. Let’s discuss how Sara uses the hunt to reveal more about her characters. Continue reading Sara Adrian on the thrill of writing treasure hunts
Mariam was born into expat life and has since lived in ten countries and four continents. She married a man of German/Italian heritage, and they have three multicultural and multilingual kids. An economist by training and an expert on expat life through experience, she penned This Messy Mobile Life to help fellow expats. Has this eternal expat ever thought of settling down? Read on to find out. Continue reading Mariam Ottimofiore on being an eternal expat
Long-term expat, Elizabeth Shick, has just released a novel inspired by her six years living in Myanmar. In The Golden Land, which won the 2021 AWP Prize for the Novel, Liz explores how we define our identity in relation to culture and country. Continue reading Elizabeth Shick on The Golden Land and writing about expat life
Brightside Story Studio 