Writing Tips, Workshops, and Inspiration from Bestselling Authors

Announcing a New Outliers Writing University and MWA Partnership   Big news! We’re thrilled to announce our new partnership with Mystery Writers of America, the premier organization for crime and mystery writers. This partnership brings together two powerhouses of the writing community, and we’re just getting started. MWA is the premier organization for mystery and crime writers, and together, we’ll be working on shared events, resources, and educational access to strengthen

Outliers Writing University will be at Author Nation, on Monday, November 3, in the Vendor Rooms area, where writers, authors, and publishing pros come together to learn, connect, and grow.Are you going to be there? If so, stop by our table and say hello! Learn about OutliersU, get a discount on our yearlong membership, and let’s talk stories, creativity, and turning your writing and bestselling dreams into reality.See you there! Outliers Writing University: https://www.outli

OUTLIERS ONE MORE THING: SHE WOULDN’T DO THAT! by Terry Shepherd   When I first conceived my protagonist, Jessica Ramirez, I based her on a good friend, also a Latina cop who had to deal with what was then primarily a male fraternity. Traci was still working when I started Chasing Vega. She reprimanded me for giving Jess any kind of emotion. “She wouldn’t do that,” Traci would exclaim. And she was probably right. I watched my friend switch into cop mode during numerous ride-a

OUTLIERS PSYCHOLOGY AND WRITING: Three Books on Writing that Enhance Character Psychology by Katherine Ramsland     Writing advice is easy to find. There are books, articles, groups, and websites galore that offer it. What grabs my  attention are resources that pull me deeper into my characters’ heads. I’ve read a lot of books on writing. The following three stand out.     A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting , by Mary Buckham   The idea of active setting is to experience a loc

OUTLIERS MEDICAL-FORENSIC FILES: Malaria in 1898 by DP Lyle, MD How was malaria prevented and treated in 1898?   Q:     My story is set in 1898, near the end of Queen Victoria’s reign. How would a British sailor who had been shipwrecked in a jungle treat himself for malaria? My research tells me quinine was first developed in 1820, but would it have been commonly available in 1898? How likely is it that my sailor would have had quinine in his survival equipment? If the sailor

OUTLIERS ONE MORE THING: Genre? What Genre? by Heather Graham             So . . .             During the pandemic, a writer became a little overwhelmed—not by the number of stories that friends were putting together for different benefits, but by the conversations regarding Covid. Do we or don’t we put it in! We should, we shouldn’t!             Then one night she saw a great documentary on the Romans leaving Britain and she wanted to work on an historical novel—and then she

OUTLIERS ONE MORE THING: Series Characters and Character Arcs by DP Lyle   Do series characters need a character arc? If so, how much should they change? How much “change” will fans tolerate?   Simply put, a character arc is the change a character goes through over the course of the story. Something happens in the character’s life that pushes it off balance. It might be a shark feeding off the shores of Amity Island or two robots showing up and babbling about some character n

OUTLIERS PSYCHOLOGY AND WRITING: A Philosopher’s Insight about Show vs. Tell by Katherine Ramsland   When I interviewed a serial killer over an extended period, I paid attention to two sources of data: what he said  and what he showed . At times, they didn’t match. Sometimes, he knew this and sometimes he didn’t. Both responses revealed maneuvers. The former targeted me, the latter protected him. That’s the one that got my attention.   I learned this mode of psychological ins