by Leah Paulos Many authors would rather chew off their own arm than stand in the spotlight promoting a book. They say things like, “I don’t want to seem narcissistic,” “I hate being like, ‘Me, me, me!’” or “I just want to write.’” If this describes you, I am here to explain why — and […] The post Why There’s Nothing Icky About Promoting a Book appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

by Anne R. Allen For the past few years, authors have been urged to give up blogging for newsletters, especially using the trendy Substack. Substack encourages users to put their good content behind a paywall, so only elite readers have the privilege of reading the entire newsletter. I was going to write a whole post […] The post Substack Newsletters VS Blogging: Should Authors Quit Blogging and Join Substack? appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

  By Yvonne Osborne Note from Anne: Yvonne is a long-time reader of this blog. When her writing dreams came true and a traditional publisher was about to release her first book, I asked her to write about the process. THE OFFER I’m writing this guest post from behind two boxes of books just delivered […] The post Writing Dreams Do Come True: What Happens After you Get “That Call” appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

  by Anne R. Allen It’s been said that if writing advice were classic rock, “Show Don’t Tell” would be “Stairway to Heaven.” But is it always good advice? Of course nobody wants to read a novel that tells a series of incidents. That can sound like a four-year-old recapping his day. “I had Froot […] The post Why “Show Don’t Tell” Can be Dangerous Advice for New Writers appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

  by Jodie Hurst Whether it’s making new music or creating social media personalities, AI has dabbled into everything around us, including writing. This brings us to the one major question – Will human writers become obsolete? While artificial intelligence programs can certainly assist writers with ideas and inspiration, some can completely replace writers in […] The post It’s the Age of AI: How to Survive and Thrive as a Writer appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

  By Anne R. Allen Recently an article in The Cut by finance writer Charlotte Cowles shocked her readers with the story of how she was robbed by a gang of con artists. She admitted she ended up giving these crooks $50,000 in cash in a shoe box. Like many other readers, I wondered how […] The post Fake Law Enforcement Scams are Targeting Writers: The Diabolical “Cash in a Shoebox” Scam appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

Writer’s Block happens to a lot of us. by Ruth Harris You hate your book. You hate your characters. The plot sucks. You have no talent and don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re doing it. On REALLY bad days, you even hate your computer which just sits there like a bilious toad and […] The post Writer’s Block-Busters: 7 Hacks to Get Past Your Writer’s Block appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

  by Anne R. Allen In a comment on my post “A Little Less Conversation. A Little More Action Please,” Audrey Driscoll pointed out that novels that throw in a whole lot of combat and running from danger can be boring, too. She was absolutely right. In my response to her comment, I tried to […] The post Action, Violence, and Business: Defining “Action” in Fiction Writing appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

  by Kenneth Strange, Jr. As a former FBI agent and true crime author, I seem to be more in demand for speaking engagements than ever before.  However, to set the record straight, I will often begin a talk debunking FBI myths including the notion that we FBI agents have experience working in the realm […] The post Fact and Fiction about the FBI: A Writer’s Guide appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more

Dialogue is fun in fiction, but too much can be exhausting by Anne R. Allen Yes, I’m quoting an Elvis song (actually by his songwriters Mac Davis and Billy Strange) in a writing article. But the title is a good thing to keep in mind when you’re writing fiction. I recently paid money for a […] The post “A Little Less Conversation; A Little More Action, Please” — Don’t Overdo Dialogue in Fiction appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris ..read more