Women Sleuths and a writing tip

Newspaper reporter Hollis Ball is shocked to find herself shedding a tear when she learns her ex-husband, Sam Wescott, was killed in a boating accident. She is even more shocked when Sam's ghost shows up, asking her to find out who murdered him. LiFE Award from Literature for the Environment.

Question from the E-mail:  People in my writing group say my dialogue doesn't move fast enough. I didn't know it had to move...and how do I give it a shove???

Answer:  Make sure they only talk about important stuff. Dialogue has to move the story forward all the time. Otherwise it slows the pace down irretrievable. Never let your characters make small talk.  In real life people say "Hi, how are you?"  But not on the printed page.

In dialogue if someone says, "Where did you get that hat?" The other character replies, "Macy's."

In real life, if someone says, "Where did you get that hat?" The other person says, "Why, what's wrong with it?"  But you can see that kind of reply would not move the scene forward.