The Chopping Blog

"Each day at four the room is sticky with marmalade light. Light that goes on bleeding and wringing its hands and finally disappears without having touched anyone."

"The angels with a billion names, moving in a line up the street, did not mind the drizzle in Valladolid, Mexico."

"Something is bothering Grandfather."

A big congratulations to our client Gary Feinstein on the release of his new novel. UNDER THE FAMILY TREE is a young-adult mashup of a touching family drama with a murder mystery.

The episodic structure of The Call of the Wild is a feature common in coming-of-age stories. This approach works when the protagonist has significant room for growth.

One common misstep I see in novel openings, chapter openings, and even new mid-chapter scenes is the tendency to zoom in too tightly, too soon.

Eighty-four days without a catch was also the essence of Hemingway’s professional situation. He hadn’t had a successful book in over a decade. Critics thought he was done.

This book is a tour de force, the sort of novel you can come back to again and again and find more things to admire in it—which is the definition of timelessness.

Power, in all its forms, is a crucial source of tension and conflict. Power can corrupt, but it can also liberate.

Even historical fiction authors must consider linguistic influences, especially as they impact worldview and personal values.

Understanding your world’s history and current events is crucial. They affect the political landscape, societal norms, and your characters' motivations.

"I have no issue with prologues, though to succeed they need to serve a purpose and pack a punch."