Introducing Yale Larsson, Private Investigator
I'm Yale Larsson, a private investigator who lives in a beach house on Longboat Key, Florida with my stalwart companion, Marlowe the Cat. I know what you're thinking. How can a private investigator afford a home on Longboat Key? Well it wasn't from the money I made...
Pay Attention
Pay attention to what’s happening around you. Those snippets of conversation you overheard in a restaurant or supermarket, the car you saw going the wrong way down a one-way street in the busiest part of town during rush hour, the elderly man limping down a dark alley...
Write Things Down
Notice what’s happening around you. As you go about your daily routine, notice the exciting, the mundane, the insane. Jot it down to remember the moment or person that got your attention. You can use your phone to record the information, or if you’re old school like...
3 Steps to Creating Better Stories
Write about something you love, a subject you’re passionate about. Make sure each scene in your novel has a clear beginning, middle and end. Create a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter to keep the reader turning pages.
Haiku and the Fiction Author
I enjoy reading haiku. And I enjoy writing them. Haiku is a short poem. Haiku originated in Japan and were composed of 17 sound units. People who write haiku in English write poems comprising 17 syllables. If you write haiku regularly, you observe nature and beauty....
Ernest Hemingway Advice: Write What You Know
Ernest Hemingway said to write what you know. I don’t think he meant this in the autobiographical sense. He meant to weave things you know into your fiction. I’m a photographer. I’m also a geek. So bits of those facets of my life are woven into my Yale Larsson Private...
My Favorite Authors
My favorite authors are James W. Hall, Robert Crais and Lee Child. They write novels that keep me turning pages. I also learn a lot about writing fiction from these authors. James W. Hall creates compelling stories about a loner named Thorn. For Thorn trouble seems...
Writing Prompts
Sometimes you need to prime the pump so to speak before writing the next chapter in your novel, or starting a new story. Something I often do is open the dictionary to any page, find a word and start writing. Another idea is to take a line from a book you like, and...
Street Life
Whether you’re on vacation, or walking in your hometown, you’ll see people. If you spot someone interesting, write a brief description of the person in your notebook. You do have a notebook with you at all times, don’t you? This person could be a prototype for a...
Listen and Learn
Authors need to be good listeners. When you listen, you learn. And you may just uncover a great line of dialogue or a name for a character. I remember shopping for clothes in a department store. As I was waiting to go into the dressing room to try on a pair of pants,...
Sneak Peak
Another excerpt from the first draft of my upcoming novel: A Pocketful of Euros. Enjoy. Backstory: An innocent man has been arrested. Yale Larsson, my protagonist won't rest until he's set free. ********************** Picked up my cell phone. Called the hospital....
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