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July 17, 2022 By Anne R. Allen 35 Comments

Are You Writing Likeable Characters? Why That “Likeable” Label Depends on Genre

Are You Writing Likeable Characters? Why That “Likeable” Label Depends on Genre

by Anne R. Allen The British TV series Morse, based on the mystery novels by Colin Dexter, won the “Best British Mystery Series of All Time” title in a Radio Times poll. A recent Facebook post about the win made me think about the admonition authors hear that novels must have likeable characters. Inspector Morse […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Ghostwriters in the Sky, Literary genres, Unsympathetic characters

May 2, 2021 By Anne R. Allen 42 Comments

What is an Unsympathetic Character? Must a Novel’s Protagonist be Likeable?

What is an Unsympathetic Character? Must a Novel’s Protagonist be Likeable?

by Anne R. Allen One of the things that will get you an automatic rejection from most agents—and a swift toss to the DNF pile from a lot of readers—is an unsympathetic character. Especially an unsympathetic protagonist. Personally, I have to admit if there’s nobody in a story I care about, I’m out of there […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, Writing Craft Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Googling Old Boyfriends, Nathan Bransford, Unsympathetic characters

July 21, 2019 By Anne R. Allen 36 Comments

8 Reasons Why Your Manuscript May be Getting Rejections

8 Reasons Why Your Manuscript May be Getting Rejections

Rejections hurt. And all writers get them. But you can reduce the number. by Anne R. Allen I’ve been perusing some agent sites recently to see if their advice has changed since I was on the query-go-round a couple of decades ago. But things seem to have remained much the same. The top reasons for […]

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Filed Under: Writers Dealing with Reviews and Rejection, Writing Craft Tagged With: Literary agents, pacing, queries, The Queen of Staves, Unsympathetic characters, voice, World Building

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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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