I know the Blood Red Pencil blog is about writing, but TV scripts are written, so give me a little latitude here. Nowadays, some of the best suspense/thriller/mystery writing is coming out of TV scripts. My husband and I never streamed series TV until late last year, but because of the coronavirus, contentious political TV, and movies we’ve seen a dozen times, we decided to settle in for some serious watching. Here are a few of the great shows that hooked us. After I found out Blacklist (Netflix) wasn’t about the 1950s House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), something that always fascinated me, I didn’t particularly want to watch it, but I like James Spader, so I thought it was worth a try. We loved it. Eight seasons, with 22 shows per season later, we can’t wait for season 9. If you like crime fiction and can overlook the stories’ impossibilities and suspend your disbelief, you’ll love this show. The skinny: Raymond (Red) Reddington, Spader, is #1 on the FBI’s wanted lis...

 “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” Maya Angelou That quote from the talented poet, performer, and activist who passed from this life in 2014 really resonates with me, as I’ve long believed that we have to keep the creative juices flowing. It's definitely not good for any kind of productivity with our work if we stagnate. What we do to prime the pump, so to speak, can take many forms. If you’re a writer, write That seems like a non-starter for writers. That's what we do, right? But too often we get distracted by social media, things life throws at us, or an impulse to play a game instead of getting into the groove. What we need to be doing is writing first.  As the wonderful writer Anne Lamott says, “How to write: Butt in chair. Start each day anywhere. Let yourself do it badly. … Get butt back in chair.” Back when I was a lot more prolific as a writer, before Ramsay Hunt Syndrome decided to cozy up to me and bring along the gift of optic ner...

 Before we turn our backs on 2021, it only makes sense that we reflect back on those books that lingered with us as we hunkered down and rode the waves of "Pandemic Year #2" (ugh! whatta year!).  In no particular order (well, okay, in the order in which they were received), here are the BRP bloggers and their stated favorites from the-year-that-will-not-be-named-again (at least in this post): Diana Hurwitz Jack Castle's fantasy/sci-fi books   Deborah Crombie's mysteries The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell   Dani Greer Andrea Penrose's Wrexford & Sloane mystery series Mimi Matthews' Parish Orphans of Devon series Vintage 1954 by Antoine Laurain The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick Katherine Center's standalones Ann Parker Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January historical mystery series  (Hambly also writes a LOT of fantasy) Silverview by John le Carré Elle Carter Neal Middle-grade book  The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes ,...

Hello everyone! I’m excited to share my thoughts on Kindle Vella as an author who has primarily written novels and novellas. I’m admittedly new to both the serial format and the platform, but it wasn’t hard to jump right in, get positive feedback from other Vella authors, and start making money before my first episode was released. Let me share a few experiences, tips, and perspectives. Let’s talk first about the structure of the Kindle Vella platform. Stories can be easily uploaded as a Word document or the text copied and pasted into the content box. Each episode must be between 600 and 5000 words and even can be scheduled for release. The first three episodes are available to read for free but authors are still compensated for them using a bonus program that Amazon assures will be ongoing. When crafting the story, it’s important to make readers want to unlock episodes. I try to create unresolved conflicts, unexplored possibilities, personal or professional challenges, and hints at...

A New Year is like hitting the reset key. Full of hope and new possibilities. ~ Deb Komiter This is how every new year should begin, though I’ll be honest with you - the last two have been difficult with all the world’s pandemic challenges.  I almost gave up writing, even skipping out on NaNoWriMo 2021 , which has been a writing habit and creative springboard for the past 14 years. I’m not the only writer with this issue. Several authors I know gave up on NaNoWriMo, too. They also mentioned trying something called Kindle Vella, which caught my attention.  What is Kindle Vella you might wonder? I did a quick Google search, and found some information, though the platform is still in the early days. This was the best overview and is worth a read.  There is also limited information on Amazon’s site, and I like that they address the platform from both writer and reader perspectives. You can read more here .  Still, it all seems a bit vague to me. First, let me admit I do...

Editing is often thought of as the fix for capitalization and punctuation errors, sentence structure corrections, and so forth. Sounds simple enough for anyone good in English grammar, but is that all there is to it? Definitely not. So much more makes the difference between a person good in English and a competent editor. More also makes the difference between a mediocre book and a great story that sends the reader looking for other books you've written. What is that  more ? Why is a highly competent grammarian not necessarily the best choice to edit your project Don't misunderstand. Mechanics do need to be addressed. Proper spelling and punctuation; good sentence structure; correct, well-chosen words; effective flow; and much more are vital to create a great finished product. Every good editor needs to be well versed in grammar and structure. But there's an unrelated area that is equally important. With that in mind, let's look at the vital interaction of working wit...