If you want your book to stick with readers long after they’ve finished it, don’t just build a stock antagonist. Build someone that readers can’t stop thinking about. More…
News
Nov42025
Rolling Stone – Ordinary Things: Subversive Storytelling
Readers come to the page looking for escape — but what hooks them isn’t the strange, it’s the familiar made strange.
There’s an apocryphal anecdote about Hemingway being challenged to write a complete story, with all the emotional impact of one of his own short stories, in just six words. Hemingway offered a tale of an ordinary object:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn …Read More
Sep272025
Rolling Stone – Flip to the End: Why Readers Want Spoilers and How Writers Can Use That
We can’t imagine why anyone would want to spoil the fun like that. But plot twist… those readers aren’t out to ruin the experience. They’re trying to trust you. More…
Sep32025
Rolling Stone – Bodies in the Room: Writing Memorable Minor Characters
Here’s a hard truth: most minor characters in fiction are cardboard cutouts. Walk-ons. Bodies in the room. They often exist only to hand over a clue, get stabbed in an alley or die screaming at the beginning of Act One. They get their minute on stage, and then are heard no more, having come and gone without making much impact. More…