Seeking writing success? Start at the beginning...Whether youre looking to get published or just hoping to hook your reader, first impressions are vital. Compelling opening scenes are the key to catching an agent or editors attention, and are crucial for keeping your reader engaged.As a writer, what you do in your opening pages, and how you do it, is a matter that cannot be left to chance. The First 50 Pages is here to help you craft a strong beg...

What's more important to a story: a gripping plot or compelling characters? Literary-minded novelists argue in favor of character-based novels while commercial novelists argue in favor of plot-based stories, but the truth of the matter is this: The best fiction is rich in both.Enter Plot Versus Character. This hands-on guide to creating a well-rounded novel embraces both of these crucial story components. You'll learn to:• Create layered characters by considering p...

Discover Your Voice and Enthrall Readers!The craft of writing is filled with various debates: Should I include a prologue? Should I delete all adverbs from my manuscript? Just how much backstory--if any--can I include in my story? These questions--and their often-contradictory answers--can cause confusion, frustration, and even paralysis in the writer.The Irresistible Novel frees you from the limits of so-called "rules" and instead provides you with a singular goal...

One of these days, I'm going to sit down and write that novel....Everyone thinks about doing it, yet most people who do start a novel end up stalling after a few chapters. Where do these would-be novelists go wrong? Are the characters dull and cliched? Did the story arc collapse? Did they succumb to a dreaded bout of "writer's block"? Or maybe it was all just taking too long?These problems used to stop writers in their tracks, but nothing will get in your w...

Let's face it: Christian fiction is fun. Even if you're writing a serious-minded study of man's inhumanity to man, there is something exhilarating about story; about creating people and worlds and events; about telling a tale that keeps readers enraptured and maybe - just maybe - leaves them fortified in their walk with Jesus.But for all of the fun, it's also hard work. There is skill involved in writing excellent Christian fiction. There is craftsmanship to be learned. And there a...

All of them are dead.The whole family.A threat to all the people of North Korea.And now the soldiers will be coming for us.Starvation ravages North Korea, and one family commits suicide to escape the slow torture they see in themselves and their children.But the little boy survives. His mother’s sister finds him amid the bodies.Word of their plight reaches Jason Kromer and the Firebrand team, and soon they are wheels up to co...

They came in broad daylight.They burned our huts. Killed our men and boys.What will become of my sisters, mothers, and me?Will I live and die a slave of the one who stole me?It’s been only four weeks since former Navy SEAL Jason Kromer led the Firebrand team to Kazakhstan to rescue a group of orphan girls, and already there is a new mission.The world is like that—always serving up a new violence against innocents.This time, M...

A killer with no address. A killer with no physical presence at all.And yet this killer reacts, strategizes, adapts.Thinks.Last time, the FBI relied upon Ethan Hamilton to catch a killer with an almost superhuman ability in the online world of GlobeNet.This time, they call upon Ethan to go up against a killer that can't be found, can't be reasoned with......and has just gained access to a ring of killer satellites.Terminal Logic is book 2 in ...

Middle-Eastern terrorists with bio-weapons.It's a far cry from the über hackers and malicious logic Ethan Hamilton has gone after before.But when these terrorists hired a cybertech team to hide their actions from the U.S. government, it became Ethan's problem.After his phenomenal successes, the United States president put Ethan in charge of a multi-agency anti-cyberterrorism organization.Which would be great, if they didn't all hate each other and resent bei...

The world on fire with violence against innocents.In places where the U.S. military cannot become embroiled.If only there was a team that could go in anyway.Now there is.Navy SEAL Jason Kromer is the tip of the U.S. military’s spear…until a sniper mission goes pear-shaped and his friend is severely wounded—thanks to Jason’s hesitation.Guilt consumes Jason and he quits the military, thinking that his days of being a warrior are gone.

He had a theory that the “accidental” electrocutions killing people online weren’t accidents at all…but the work of a high tech serial killer.He called the FBI with his theory, but they blew him off.Until someone they cared about was “accidentally” electrocuted.Now the government wants Ethan Hamilton—a regular family guy and virtual reality programmer struggling with his belief—to go after a murderer who kills on principle.But Ethan’s addiction to online gam...

Ramp up the tension and keep your readers hooked! Inside you'll find everything you need to know to spice up your story, move your plot forward, and keep your readers turning pages. Expert thriller author and writing instructor James Scott Bell shows you how to craft scenes, create characters, and develop storylines that harness conflict and suspense to carry your story from the first word to the last.Learn from examples of successful novels and movies as you transform your work fr...