JOANNA ELM, Author, Journalist, Attorney
The Pleasures and Perils Of A Writing Life
I recently had the thrill of listening to two of the most prolific, biggest, bestselling authors in the world talk about what it takes to become one of them. Continue reading “2 Biggest, Bestselling Authors Tell What It Takes To Be One”
There comes a point for many authors — published or aspiring — when you pause to wonder why you ever got the (insane) idea to write a novel in the first place? It may take a while to reach that point. Continue reading “Why Did I Ever Get The (Insane) Idea To Write Another Novel?”
Serial-killer thriller author, J.D. Barker is the latest writer to become a James Patterson co-author. Evidently, working with the world’s #1 bestselling author is rubbing off on him. J.D. has become a writing machine this year.
The Fifth To Die, the second offering in the Fourth Monkey (4MK) trilogy was published this summer. Dracul, the prequel to the Dracula series which J.D. was commissioned to write by Bram Stoker’s family is to be released on October 2, 2018. The novel was inspired by notes kept by Bram Stoker, the author of the original, classic novel, Dracula. It is co-authored by Dacre Stoker, Bram’s great grand-nephew. Continue reading “How Author J.D.Barker Nails The Rules For Writing Suspense”
Twice this week I was flummoxed, maybe even a little miffed, by things I heard about the craft of writing (specifically screenwriting) and journalism (specifically investigative journalism.) In the latter case, I received an email from Brad at MasterClass and this is what it said: “Bob Woodward Teaches Investigative Journalism.” In the email trailer, Woodward promises to teach students how to research, gather information, interview people, and how to find the story and build the story. Wow! Continue reading “So You Think You Can Be A Journalist? It’s Not That Easy”
It’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done. This week: I Discover The World’s Bestselling Author is Also A Super Nice Guy.
How do you introduce an author who has sold more than 300 million copies of his thrillers worldwide to a standing- room- only audience at a book festival? This is how Lois Cahall, founder and organizer of the Palm Beach Book Festival, did it last week at the Harriet Himmel Theatre, City Place, West Palm Beach. She told the audience that at one point while organizing the third annual book festival, she realized she had booked only non-fiction writers to appear on the festival panels. “So, I went out to look around for someone who writes fiction,” she said, ” and I found this guy.” Continue reading “Meeting James Patterson at The Palm Beach Book Festival”