Miranda Liasson, Author at Miranda Liasson Romance Author

Finalist Chicago Fire and Ice!

By Miranda Liasson on Monday, Feb 27, 2012 | 4 comments

I just found out my early Victorian romance The Spy Who Loved Me is a finalist in the Historical category of the Chicago North Fire and Ice Contest. Yippee!!Fortitude. Resilience. Rebirth. Oh, and this picture is from my garden. There is something alive under there after all!!

Writing Inspiration for the Day

By Miranda Liasson on Thursday, Feb 9, 2012 | 0 comments

You didn't really want to hear me talk about the trials and travails of teaching my first online workshop, did you? This is more fun!

A Writer and His Editor: Fitzgerald and Perkins

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Jan 20, 2012 | 0 comments

Yes, I am actually going to write about F. Scott Fitzgerald and his editor, Maxwell Perkins! (No, this is not a topic related to Regency or Victorian England!) But I came across this remarkable book that illustrates this amazing relationship. The letters exchanged between the two show so clearly the universal dreams and aspirations, doubts, [...]

Write and Live in 2012

By Miranda Liasson on Tuesday, Jan 3, 2012 | 2 comments

As we welcome the new year and set our writing goals, I'd like to share something I heard yesterday on NPR that stayed with me on a very gutteral level.As writers, we (well, okay, I) tend to define success based on outcome--did we publish? This amazing story I heard on NPR yesterday helped me to [...]

Emotion Belongs Somewhere Else Besides in Your Manuscript: An Exercise

By Miranda Liasson on Saturday, Dec 17, 2011 | 3 comments

Take a look at the following words:doomedshatteredunforgettablecoldlydevastatingattractionferociousoverwhelming pleasureperilmistrust desireincipient hopepainfulnewWhat do you notice about there words? Most are adjectives. Some are nouns. One is an adverb.Okay, go deeper--what do you feel about these words? Does reading down the list make your heart beat a little faster? Does it cause you to imagine something, well--exciting? Does [...]

High Concept Tree

By Miranda Liasson on Wednesday, Nov 23, 2011 | 0 comments

I have never (until now) seen a pine tree that changes colors and LOSES its needles. A deciduous pine?!!! Even scarier, I saw it and thought, this tree is EXACTLY the kind of thing we strive for as writers of fiction. That unique twist on the usual that is so compelling it makes you immediately turn [...]

Want to write for Mills and Boon? Read This!

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Nov 4, 2011 | 0 comments

A few weeks ago I told you the Mills and Boon first chapter competition topped out at 1090 entries. Well, today they announced the winner, Natalie Charles, for her story The Seven Day Target. Check out her story here For the rest of us who didn't final: the Mills and Boon editors selected 20 random first [...]

Slaying the Dragon–Every Day

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Oct 21, 2011 | 2 comments

Every day, the same fear seizes me. I sit at my keyboard, hands poised, and I freeze. And that horrible, whining voice starts in."What if you're not clever enough?" (or funny enough, smart enough, entertaining enough, just fill in the blank) it says, mocking me. "Do you actually think you can put words into coherent sentences? You [...]

Mills and Boon Competition Tops Out at Over 1,000 Entries

By Miranda Liasson on Monday, Oct 10, 2011 | 0 comments

The Mills and Boon New Voices Competition just closed today with 1,090 entries. Wow. Read the amazing first chapters of as many as you like in six different categories at http://www.romanceisnotdead.com/Entries/Open-to-AllAnd of course you can check out my entry, A Bride for the Bachelor, where a workaholic New York editor and a carefree reality show star spar over a [...]

Rubies Discuss GH Tips

By Miranda Liasson on Thursday, Oct 6, 2011 | 0 comments

Well, my first page was not one of the 4 finalists on the Ruby Sisters blog last week but if you haven't already, go and read the wonderfully creative ones that did final. This little contest underscored the importance of the first line and the first page of your manuscript. From now till October 13th, the Rubies [...]