Well, hello there.

Funny to start this post with a greeting, given its topic. But this is our inaugural post, and I didn’t want to begin without saying hi.

“Hi.”

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, we can get down to business. Specifically, the business of writing dialogue in fiction.

First, a list of what to do and what not to do.

Do’s and Don’ts

• Do listen to people speak in real life. This will give you a feel for speech patterns.
• Don’t repeat conversations verbatim. When people pause to think, they counter the silence with filler words and phrases (like, um, well). Unless you need to show a character pause (for example, to come up with a believable lie) omit the fillers.
• Do let readers know dialects may be heavy by certain speakers. (I considered hiring a translator to decode his southern accent.) Pepper in a phonetic…

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

“As children, they played games of myth and magic . . . .” 

An old inn with a mysterious past. Ladies in white, ghosting through the trees. Unexplained sobbing noises during the dead of night. Strange happenings, all, and the quest to understand who–or what–is trying to drive guests away from Stone Willow Lodge is at the heart of Mae Clair’s shivery romantic suspense novel.

Anyone who has visited Bookin’ It very often knows that I’m extremely partial to angsty, conflicted men, and heaven knows, private investigator Caithelden Lairen is the very personification of angst and conflict. Born Caithelden Breckwood (his mother has a thing for myth and magic, herself, naming her other sons Galen, Aren, and Merlin), Caith has been estranged from his family for years. A childhood trauma has left him scarred and angry, especially at his father, and thus it…

My Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

I’ve been waiting for SOOO long for this second book in The  Great Library series, and finally, I have it. On my shelf, and again on my Kindle, because it’s so beautifully done, I didn’t even want to take a chance of creasing a single page. Truly a stunning cover, to go with another stunning story. If you didn’t read my review of Book 1, Ink and Bone, you can check it out HERE. I adored it, and I adored this one no less.

Rachel Caine is a very strong writer, and creates characters that are flawed but endearing. I’ve been a fan of hers since the Weather Warden series, and read her YA Morganville Vamps series, as well. The Great Library books are nothing like either of those, except in the quality of writing, and the strength of the characters.

I do…