Writing the Crime Scene: Mental Illness
By Repo Kempt
Psychopathic kilers, depressed cops and neurotic detectives. Mental illness is a recurring staple of crime fiction. Here's a guide to doing your research and getting the details right.
Storyville: Writing Compelling Dust Jacket Copy
Tips for writing compelling dust jacket copy that makes the back of your book sing.
Open to Inspiration: How Your Own Family History Can Feed Your Fiction
By Alex Segura
Acclaimed crime/mystery novelist Alex Segura talks about finding inspiration for his next book in his own family's Cuban history.
Writing the Crime Scene: 5 Fictional Female Detectives of Note
By Repo Kempt
March is Women's History Month in most of the world (except Canada), so here's five fictional female detectives that you probably don’t know, but should.
Storyville: Writing Contemporary Magical Realism
Tips on how to write contemporary magical realism.
5 Comics Every Crime Writer Needs To Read
By Repo Kempt
Crime writers can learn a lot about their craft from well-written comic books. Here's five superb crime comics to whet your appetite.
Writing the Crime Scene: Arson
By Repo Kempt
In:
Crime Fiction, Crime Writers' Association, detective, Forensics, Horror, Investigation, Research, Research, True Crime, Writing the Crime Scene
A guide to writing realistic depictions of arson and fire investigation in crime fiction.
Storyville: 101 Ways to Make 2017 Your Best Year as a Writer Yet
101 Ways to Make 2017 Your Best Year as a Writer Yet
Writing the Crime Scene: Gunshot Wounds
By Repo Kempt
A guide to writing realistic depictions of gunshot wounds, as well as their treatment and recovery, in crime and horror fiction.
Writing the Crime Scene: Autopsies
By Repo Kempt
A guide to researching and writing about autopsies in crime and horror fiction.
5 Horrifying Monsters That Aren't Vampires, Zombies or Werewolves!
By Repo Kempt
Editors are tired of their slush piles being haunted by vampires, werewolves and zombies. Here's five horrifying new monsters dying to claw their way into your next submission.
Storyville: 10 Neo-Noir Films to Influence Your Fiction
10 Neo-Noir Films to Influence Your Fiction
Writing the Crime Scene: Cops Don't Talk Like That!
By Repo Kempt
A guide to researching and writing dialogue for law enforcement characters in crime fiction.
Writing the Crime Scene: Guns
By Repo Kempt
An article about myths, misconceptions and common mistakes when crime authors write about guns.
Storyville: Continuing Your Writing Education
Some tips and advice about how to continue your writing education.
Writing the Crime Scene: Dead Bodies
By Repo Kempt
This is a basic guide for crime fiction writers including research tips and links. This months topic is 'dead bodies'.
Storyville: Introducing Your Children to Horror
A guide to turning your kids on to horror.
5 Tips on Researching Legal Jargon for Writers
By Repo Kempt
Whether your protagonist is a hotshot attorney walking into a murder trial or a convicted criminal awaiting his appeal, it’s important that you maintain your authority by using the correct jargon.
Storyville: Six Dark Contemporary Films That Can Inspire Your Fiction
Here are some of my favorite recent films, and ways they can inform and inspire your writing.
Storyville: The DOs and DONTs of Running a Successful Kickstarter Campaign
Advice on how to run a successful Kickstarter campaign from someone who's done it.
Finding Story Inspiration in Strip Clubs
By Rob Hart
If you want to get the feel for a town, strip clubs are a good place to start. Rob Hart shares his strip club experiences and how they've influenced his new novel, CITY OF ROSE.
Writing the Unknown Setting: 8 Tips on Conducting a Research Trip for your WIP
What happens if you need to set a story in a place you've never seen? Melissa F. Olson, author of the Boundary Magic series, walks you through how to plan a location research trip.
12 Productive Ways to be Unproductive
Procrastination doesn’t have to be a complete waste of time. Instead, it can be only sort of a waste of time.
In Defense of (and Against) 'Write What You Know'
It's the most trite piece of advice any writer can receive...or is it?
DIY Book Covers for the Self Publishing-Inclined Part 2
You've learned how to combine stock images to create vaguely interesting book covers. Time to learn some easy typography tricks.













