Storytelling Tips

When I teach writing classes or give interviews, I often mention books that have been helpful to me in my writing life. Many of them are older but they transition well into this 21st Century. I’ve asterisked a couple that I keep coming back to, manuscript after manuscript. Check out these works by other

On September 8, 2021 Jane was joined by Craig Johnson (best-selling author of the Longmire mystery novels) for a  Zoom meeting to discuss how they develop a new storyline and the challenges they have faced to be a successful writer. The event was hosted by Powell's City of Books in Oregon. Join

Writing Tips from Three Experts On August 28, 2021 Jane was joined by Craig Johnson (Daughter of the Morning Star — Longmire fame) and Lakota writer David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Winter Counts) for a  Zoom meeting in which was titled "Conversation on Writing Native." The event was hosted by Sunriver Books and Music in

Vexed and Blessed American essayist and novelist Wendell Berry once said of parenting that it was “a vexed privilege and a blessed trial.”  I think that’s true of writing historical novels, too. I do feel privileged to be able to tell the stories set in another place and time. I love the research, the

Tips for Writing Historical Novels Begin with an unanswered question or something strange you want to thoroughly explore – a person, an incident, a time period that intrigues – a story that calls your name and won’t let you go. Don’t write unless you have to. Write one sentence each to answer these questions:

Groping Someone once asked physicist Albert Einstein how he worked.  “I grope,” he answered. I like that answer because I feel like I grope, too. I write mostly about real people, dead people one might say, and “groping dead people” doesn’t seem like a good way to spend one's time but it's my way.