Non-fiction proposal

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

I talked last time about the need for a non-fiction book proposal, basically a tool to let a potential agent or editor know why your book is worth their time. I promised to tell you about the part of that ...

More than just writing the book

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

There is so much more to writing a non-fiction  book (and a novel for that matter) than the actual writing of the book. As I have tried to sell books in the past and as I continue to research the ...

More than writing the book

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

Writing and selling a book is so much more than actually just writing the book. First, you have to convince an agent to handle it or a publisher directly to print it. How do you go about this? Stay tuned.

True crime, real people

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

Sitting through the Shropshire murder trial in Cuero last week was a stark reminder of how murder's tragedy radiates from the victim, to the victim's family, to the suspect's family, to the community. As I continue to work on the ...

Reading circle

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

A colleague was approached by a man who wanted her to read his novel. She declined, but said she would give me his contact information since I had been published. This brings to mind the importance of readers or a ...

Reading to write

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

I am not sure what happened to me. For the first 11 months of 2007, I read maybe one book and that was one I got for Christmas in 2006. But since this Christmas I've absolutely gone nuts reading. As ...

Advice comes in a lot of forms

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

I remember talking to a New York literary agent about the story of the Butts murders (www.webbsleuths.org)  and him asking me, "What makes this story different from any other trailer trash murder?" I was angered at first, especially at the ...

Trial date set

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

Kevin Hailey will go on trial for murder in February 2009. A judge set the date last week. From what I was told the biggest problem may be finding a courtroom outside Cass County that the trial can tie up ...

Tears in Heaven

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

Today, Sunday, Jan. 27, the 16th anniversary of the Butts triple homicide in Atlanta, Texas. The three were found in their Walnut St. mobile home, just a block off a main, heavily traveled street. This is the case I am ...

True Crime

By ALongLook in The Write Stuff

Just found out that a pre-trial hearing for Kevin Hailey - the man arrested for the triple homicide in Atlanta, Texas in 1992 - is set for late Feb. Also, his attorney has requested a change of venue. I really ...