An EDGAR-WINNER Writes About How to Create Excitement and Suspense in your Novel

"Every writer should be so lucky as to have an Aunt Julie looking out for them - without her I'd still be a personal trainer with big dreams." -Greg Herren, author of more than a dozen novels, including the Chanse McLeod and Scotty Bradley mystery series

PEOPLE LOVED THE CLASS THAT INSPIRED THE BOOK:

"She is the mentor that I really needed. Julie taught me about voice, character, and plot. However the most important thing she has given me is confidence. Julie has given me faith in my own instincts and abilities. I'm not dreaming about writing anymore, I am actually doing it. The reality of it is way more exciting than anything I ever imagined." -Marika Christian, author of PHONE KITTEN

"I have never before been in a class where I have taken away so much practical and immediately useful information. So much of what I have learned in class has immediately been put into practice into the book I am writing, and you have taken months, if not years, off the learning arc." - Val Kientz

"I now know techniques that can help me right away. I think about my writing
differently." - Miriam Childs

AND THEY LOVED THE BOOK

Highlights from Amazon reviews:

"Her three rules of writings are worth the whole book."

"She does a really good job of breaking down the bones of putting a book together, and it's fun!"

"Smith's dismissal of the myriad `rules' that fill most books on writing was firm, but done with humor and a light touch that didn't put her at war with the authors of all of those other books. She insists on only one thing: Each writer must find their own way. In place of 'you must always...' she offers advice, suggestions, ideas, insights, examples and heuristics that are bound to be valuable to any fledgling writer."

WHAT YOU'RE BUYING

WRITE FREE (formerly WRITING YOUR WAY) is all about finding your own best writing method, not a writing teacher's idea of what's right for you. It's for the pre-published novelist who's way past finding her inner writer and just wants some nuts-and-bolts advice that'll help her through the plot knots and POV power struggles. Highlights include:

The definitive answer to the most popular question posed by pre-published authors:

How do I find an agent?
How to make that all-important first chapter sparkle. (The only one anybody reads if it doesn't sparkle.)
Plotting without tears.
Laughs and giggles. The subject matter's serious, but the touch is light.

JULIE SMITH is the author of two dozen novels and short story collections, and the winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. Here's what the big guns say about her work:

SUE GRAFTON (on The Axeman's Jazz): "Well-researched, engaging, and with psychological insights, this novel is the perfect follow- up to Skip Langdon's debut."

VAL MCDERMID: "Julie Smith writes like jazz should sound - cool, complex, and penetrating right to the heart."

BOOKLIST: "Smith has perfect pitch."

SHARYN MCCRUMB: "A stunning tale...

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: "Marvelous... "

THE JACKSON CLARION-LEDGER: "It' Stephanie Plum with Tabasco, dawlin'!"