LAURENCE MACNAUGHTON

  • Ghost Market (Lana Harvey, Reapers Inc. book 6) In the wake of a thwarted war, Lana Harvey is more than ready for an extended vacation on the new houseboat she shares with the Lord of the Flies, but when the…

  • Just today, Pyr printed ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) of my upcoming urban fantasy novel, It Happened One Doomsday. How cool is that? Personally, I find it amazing. Part of me never believed that this little book would get this far.…

  • Ever Google yourself? Sure. Usually, nothing unexpected turns up. Until one day you find yourself listed as a bestselling author: My new book, a best seller? Nah, that can’t possibly be right. Probably just some miscalculation deep in the Google gearbox.…

  • Critique groups: best thing ever for writers? Or soul-crushing pits of despair? Here are my 6 secrets for spotting a top-notch critique group — or assembling your own. Connect with other writers and get the feedback you need to finish…

  • The rumors are true. My next book (first in a new urban fantasy series) hits stores in the summer of 2016. And if you preorder It Happened One Doomsday anytime before the release date, you’ll receive a special bonus story…

  • If you’ve ever tried to write a book, you’ve probably struggled with plotting. Plot is more than just what happens in the story. There’s a bigger structure to what happens, and when, and why. Do it right, and you’ll create…

  • This is a true story: I know a guy in New Zealand named Chazz who fronts a punk band called Flirting With Disaster. They’re a blast. In fact, a character in my next series occasionally wears a Flirting With Disaster T-shirt.…

  • Imagine if there was a way you could instantly spark new ideas, organize your thoughts and get more done every day. As a writer, my brain is constantly loaded up with new ideas. But I’ve found a way to quickly…

  • OMG, I want to frame this. My new book deal with a New York publisher is right at the top of today’s Publishers Lunch. Publishers Lunch is a daily publishing industry newsletter put out by Publishers Weekly. Essentially, it’s the…

  • The other day, I was fielding questions about my upcoming novel when the topic of inspiration came up. How do you know when you’re inspired by a really good idea? And more important, how do you tell a good inspiration from a…

From the blog

  • Want to Get Published? Read This.

    I’ve talked to dozens of best-selling authors about their early years, before they were published. And the similarities between them are striking. On average, they wrote about half a dozen unpublished manuscripts before they sold a novel. (By the way, this is what I call the Myth of the First Novel. Because it’s hardly ever…

  • Compelling Character Arcs in 4 Easy Steps

    I’ll let you in on a secret: readers want your character to change. They know, deep down, that your character is unhappy with the status quo at the beginning of your book. Something is terribly wrong in your character’s life, and things can’t keep going on this way. Something’s got to give. Readers fervently hope…