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December 24, 2023 By Anne R. Allen 23 Comments

Happy Birthday, Mithra! Sol Invictus, too. Happy Be a Pagan Day!

Happy Birthday, Mithra! Sol Invictus, too. Happy Be a Pagan Day!

  by Anne R. Allen Merry Yuletide! Every religion in the northern hemisphere celebrates the Winter Solstice in some way. Usually with lights to illuminate the darkest time of year, like the festival of Hanukah. In the snowy north, the European ancestors of many of us were cold and hungry, so they invented holidays to […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Mithra, Odin, Sherwood, Sherwood Ltd., Sol Invictus

October 16, 2022 By Anne R. Allen 37 Comments

Tropes and Archetypes vs. Clichés: Why it’s Okay to Use Familiar Elements in Fiction

Tropes and Archetypes vs. Clichés: Why it’s Okay to Use Familiar Elements in Fiction

Tropes of “the Other Woman” are as old as Lilith by Anne R. Allen In a workshop recently, I was gobsmacked when one writer criticized another for using a story element that’s much loved in women’s fiction. It’s the one where the heroine discovers she’s the “other woman” in her man’s life, when she thought […]

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Filed Under: Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: archetypes, Sherwood, Sherwood Ltd., tropes, writing cliches

October 6, 2019 By Anne R. Allen 45 Comments

Chekhov’s Gun: The Importance of Follow-Through in Fiction

Chekhov’s Gun: The Importance of Follow-Through in Fiction

  by Anne R. Allen Anton Chekhov, the Russian playwright, also wrote short stories, essays and instructions for young writers. Probably his most famous writerly advice is this admonition: “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: Chekhov's Gun, Minor characters, research-itis, Sherwood, Sherwood Ltd.

January 19, 2014 By Anne R. Allen 88 Comments

Six Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Need to Ignore

Six Pieces of Bad Advice New Writers Need to Ignore

by Anne R. Allen   A couple of weeks ago, when I wrote a post about writing as a hobby as opposed to a profession (hint: they’re both good choices), I got a couple of comments from new writers who were discouraged to read how much work and dedication it takes to become a professional writer. They […]

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Filed Under: Self-Publishing, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Amazon reviews, Anne R. Allen, critiquecircle.com, how not to publish, How to get a book published, Ltd. SheWrites, querying agents, Sherwood, short fiction, short stories, WANAtribe, Writing myths

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writers digest 101 best websites for writers award

Anne R. AllenAnne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Ruth Harris NYT best selling authorRuth is a million-copy New York Times bestselling author, Romantic Times award winner, former Big 5 editor, publisher, and news junkie.

Her emotional, entertaining women’s fiction and critically praised novels have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club.

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