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novel-marketing-podcast: A review
NOVEL MARKETING: A Game-changer for Indie Authors Not long ago, I came across a post on Threads that felt all too familiar: “I love writing… but I hate marketing.” If, like me, that complaint strikes a chord, read on. One reply suggested listening to the Novel Marketing Podcast, hosted by Thomas Umstattd Jr., available on… Read more
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Reading 007 #9: Thunderball – Bond, Bacon and the Bahamas
A Review of Ian Fleming’s Thunderball HUNGOVER AND OUT OF CONDITION When Thunderball opens, James Bond is hungover and seriously out of condition. His body and health creak under the strain of sixty cigarettes and half a bottle of hard spirits a day. It’s a good start to the ninth book in the series because… Read more
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Elmore Leonard Was Right: Thoughts on The Twyford Code
Rule #7: “Use local dialect, patois, sparingly.” So said the great crime writer Elmore Leonard in his Ten Rules for Writing Janice Hallet would have done well to remember his advice. Transcription Errors Hallet’s second book, The Twyford Code, follows her hugely successful epistolary novel The Appeal and is told almost entirely through computer-transcribed voice… Read more
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Why Do People Love The Da Vinci Code?
A Review of Dan Brown’s Global Bestseller Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code has captivated millions of readers. But what makes this conspiracy-laced thriller so addictive? 📖 Introduction: A Global Phenomenon with Mixed Reviews Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code is one of the best-selling novels of all time. It’s been translated into dozens of… Read more
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Nerves, genesis and a noisy cat: My Podcast debut
A behind-the-mic look at my podcast debut on The Funky Writer Show. 🎧 Listen here: The Funky Writer Show In mid-June, I joined The Funky Writer Show for a lively forty-minute chat about writing, research, and the inspiration behind my novel Do Not Keep Silent. The Funky Writer Show is a fun podcast about writing.… Read more
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Reading 007 #7: Goldfinger
Glittering Set Pieces, But Tarnished Tropes. In Miami, James Bond helps an acquaintance by investigating how the mysterious Auric Goldfinger is cheating at cards. This sparks a chain reaction: first, a round of high stakes golf in England, then a pursuit across Europe, followed by an audacious scheme to break into Fort Knox in Kentucky… Read more