Most readers love a whodunnit story. A trail of clues to follow and reasoning to understand. These types of stories fall into two major categories: mysteries and thrillers. In both types, something dramatic has occurred—a murder or a bomb threat, for example—and we (the reader) want to understand who did it and why. Often, these two genres are thrown together into the same category—one where something needs to be figured out—but they are really two different animals. This pos

Which would you rather read, a good book or a good story? The difference between the two has arisen a few times over the past couple of years as I’ve learned more about writing and publishing novels—and, of course, reading them. But which is more important? Which is better? A Good Book This is another way to say a literary book. Literary fiction seems to be particularly hot in current publishing circles, and when I’ve asked various people what literary means, it invariably co

As the term Speculative Fiction becomes more widely used and accepted, there appears to be a division of the definition. Many believe...