Guest Post: Rayne Hall The Art of Procrastination

A Non-fiction Piece by Rayne Hall 1. Read this blog before you start today’s writing session. 2. Nobody can procrastinate all the time. Take a break now and then and write something. Then return to procrastination with renewed vigour. 3. Don’t waste your procrastination on

Guest Post: Rayne Hall on Chases and Escapes

A Non-fiction Piece by Rayne Hall WRITING CRAFT: CHASES AND ESCAPES Does your novel-in-progress contain a scene where the heroine escapes from danger, with the villain chasing after her? Excellent. Readers love the these scenes. Here are some techniques to make your escape scene exciting.

Guest Post: Rayne Hall on Funny Reviews

A Non-fiction Piece by Rayne Hall I love it when readers who enjoyed my books post positive reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and elsewhere – but negative reviews can be even more fun. Here’s a selection of my favourites I’ve received over the years: Storm Dancer (dark epic fantasy novel) “This book is too long. I

Guest Post: Rayne Hall on Creating Suspense

WRITING CRAFT: WHAT LURKS BEHIND THAT DOOR? — CREATING SUSPENSE by Rayne Hall Suspense is a feeling – the feeling of excitement, of tension, of fear, the feeling of needing to know what happens next. As writers, we aim to create suspense, because our readers love it. Here’s a quick trick for increasing the suspense:

The Cemetery

(Chapter 15 of a forthcoming book, WOMAN IN WHITE, by Gildon Beall) The graveyard of Rev. Cricklewood’s “Angelic Brotherhood Church” was illumined only by a pale sliver of moon peeking through thin clouds. It was quiet; the sort of night that mortals find oppressive or frightening, the appropriate venue for spirits. No living mortals were

The Third Floor – a true ghost story

Ghosts don’t exist. They belong in the realm of fairies, goblins, hobbits, and other fictional characters. At least, that is what I believed until my trip to Italy. I flew to Milan with the intention of staying at Pension Carrobbio, a three-story hotel near the Piazza del Duomo. My friend who suggested the place said

Crossing the Cemetery on Halloween Night

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain had paused but the fickle moon often hid behind the thunderheads, plunging Morganville into Stygian darkness. As I neared the cemetery, my 1975 Hornet coughed, sputtered, and rolled to a stop. I did the usual things, but it wouldn’t restart. Another car approached, and I tried

Etruscan Studies

Max Morris Federlicht taught Etruscan Studies at the University of West Dakota when I was a student there. I was studying Engineering, so the fact that we even met, let alone talked together, was somewhat of a miracle. UWD, as you know, is a huge school, very proud of its twenty former Harvard faculty members