Having just finished a book, I am filled, as I often am, with sadness. I quick survey of writing friends tells me this is a common phenomenon. “Why?” I asked. “Because you have lived with your characters so long, and now you have to say goodbye. You are saying goodbye to dear friends.” I wrote
There is something of a ritual in my writer’s life when I finish a first, readable draft of a new novel. I read the book to my wife, Linda. This is not a simple matter. The reading is a multi-day activity, during which time I will read as many as fifty pages at a time,
A few weekends ago I attended a library event such as I have never been to before. Loveland (Colorado) Public Library offered a one-day festival of local writers. All kinds of writers were there: those who self-published, those who work with traditional publishers, blog writers, writers who work with small presses and independent publishers. The point
If you read mystery fiction, there is always much about “motive.” Fictional detectives spend much time searching for that motive. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that “motive,” is equally important in non-mystery genres as well. It helps if you think of the term “logic,” rather than motive. When you build your story (and as a
Over the years I have signed many books. Many a time I have wondered what happened to them. In fact, I once had a dream in which I had stumbled into a gigantic warehouse. Once inside I discovered it was filled with thousands of my books—all of them previously signed by me. I was never
Listen as Avi reads the beginning of his novel The Christmas Rat. Not your usual Christmas story, this thriller takes place during Christmas vacation. With nothing better to do, Eric joins Anje, the exterminator, on a mission to destroy the rat living in the basement of his apartment building. But as Christmas Day draws nearer
I’ve worked on a manuscript for ten months. Maybe more. I no longer can remember. It has in fact gone well. I have worked with care, revising as I go, working (I hope) with care, skill. I know the plot well enough so there are no surprises in my head. At least I think so. But as
In the rural Colorado world in which I live there is no postal delivery. The post office is twelve miles away, and is in a building that houses a general store as well as a liquor store. (There is a picture of it in my new book Old Wolf.) In one corner of the post
The other day I was startled to realize that my book, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle was published twenty-five years ago. Here’s the story behind the book. I had been working on another novel; The Man Who was Poe, when I first had the idea for the book. The Man Who was Poe, (which is about
https://vimeo.com/763117154/48fe091b46 Woke at six AM so as to be alert for a virtual visit at seven AM, the class being in the Eastern Time Zone. That chat was about Crispin. Phone chat with my principle publicity person working out some marketing ideas for the future. Then I sat down to continue my work on book