There are three elements that make up every story: people, problems, and places.
To form a good story, those elements need to be in balance, because each one affects the others.
That’s why you need to put as much effort into the places in your story—your setting—as you do for your characters and your plot.
Here are the three best ways to make that effort pay off, so that your setting comes alive. Continue reading
What makes a villain fascinating?
It’s not just about scaring the pants off the reader.
The most terrifying thing a villain can do in a story isn’t killing the hero or blowing up the world — it’s making their twisted viewpoint seem morally right, and making the hero seem wrong.
Because if the villain’s outlook starts to make sense, and the hero seems to have things backwards, then for just a moment, the reader has to wonder: Have I been rooting for the wrong side all along?
In my Dru Jasper urban fantasy series, every book sees the heroes (all with strange and unique magic powers) fighting to defend the world from a looming apocalypse. The latest book, Forever and a Doomsday, squares them off against the worst threat they’ve ever faced: a horde of wraiths, the dispossessed souls of sorcerers, who can walk through walls and kill with a mere touch.
How do you fight something like that? Continue reading
Before I became a published author, I used to carry around a writing notebook in my back pocket.
You know the kind I’m talking about: the little black book that tells the world you’re a Serious Writer.
But that little notebook is a big mistake, I eventually learned.
Here are three reasons why you should ditch it, and what you need to keep in your pocket instead. Continue reading
When considering who gives out the best writing advice in the world, the first name that pops up might not be Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But a decade ago, Schwarzenegger presented his “6 Rules of Success” in a now-famous commencement speech at the University of Southern California.
And these rules just might hold the key to your success as a writer.
Her best customer is on fire, and a magic carpet is careening out of control. Can Dru save her friends—before it’s too late? FREE with author newsletter.
Can Dru solve a cryptic riddle, stop an angry Chinese spirit, and resist heaps of amazingly tasty dumplings – before an evil army of fiends conquers the world? Amazon
When a handsome mechanic with glowing red eyes pulls up in a possessed black muscle car, Dru’s world is turned upside down. Can her magic save the world—before his curse destroys it? Amazon
Sorcerers are disappearing off the streets. Greyson is missing. Hellbringer is on the loose. Can Dru stop the prophecy before legions of undead rise to consume the souls of everyone on Earth? Amazon
Can Dru save Greyson’s soul, salvage her friendships, and find the apocalypse scroll in time to stop doomsday? Amazon
Can Dru escape seven soul-devouring wraiths and safeguard the apocalypse scroll forever—before the undead break the seventh seal? Amazon
Surrounded by criminals, can a con artist with a heart of gold find an ancient spider before it steals his memories — and his life? Amazon
When supernatural evil stalks the noir streets of 1947 New York, private detective Jazzy St. Clare is on the case. Ancient curses, dark sorcery and bloodthirsty fangs are no match for Jazzy’s killer wit and panache.
Laurence MacNaughton is the award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories. His work has been praised by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, RT Book Reviews, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews. He lives in Colorado with his wife and too many classic cars.
