FREE RANGE WRITERS

I and my partners in crime (writing) here at Free RangeWriters, Gregory Zeigler and Dave Butler, were recently honored to have all three of our essays appear...

For this week’s post, I thought it would be both fun and illuminating to think about how environmental mysteries can influence conservation … and vice versa....

With apologies to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'm not going to say much about the pandemic. I promise. But as I write this, I'm missing a chance to hang out with...

Most authors love to hear from readers, and we are especially grateful for reviews, but sometimes the negative messages we receive are tough to digest. Becau...

In this cycle of February posts, Free Range Partner Pam wrote about what she had learned from her travel. Partner Dave wrote about his writing process. I tho...

By Dave Butler 5 a.m. arrives extremely early. In the summer, when the sun rises at the same time, it’s tolerable. But in the winter months, here in the shad...

I’m preparing to go on an international trip soon, so I’ve been thinking about all the things I’ve experienced on my travels. As Rick Steves says, “Travel is...

By Dave Butler Imagine that you’re a landscaper photographer, visiting the west slopes of the Rocky Mountains for the first time. If you’re an American, you’...

In my last effort for the Free Rangers posted in the final month of the previous decade (12/15/19) I introduced my scene checker, a legal pad that towers ove...

Cozy mysteries are generally set in a small town with a cast of quirky characters and little violence. Murders are often depicted as a “fun” mystery puzzle f...

By Dave Butler Throw them a challenge! That simple piece of advice remains one of the best I’ve received from other mystery writers in whose skilled footstep...

Rare as Earth gets a checkup. I'm working on a final edit of my novel in process, Rare as Earth. A list, entitled "Scene Checker,"sits upright in a cookbook ...

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of books written by inexperienced writers, and this has made me think back to my early days as a novelist. I completely rewrot...

The Role of Theme and Plot in Environmental Mysteries By Dave Butler Building on Pam and Greg’s reflections on theme and plot, I find the area of ecofiction ...

As she is wont to do, Free Range Writer partner Pamela got me thinking about plots and themes in my novels. Let's look at my first, That Straw That Broke. Th...

Every novel has a plot, which is the story line (what happens). But most good novels also have a theme, which is the underlying message the writer wants the ...

Following on the heels of Pam and Greg’s intriguing posts, I am often asked by readers and other writers about where I write. For me, it’s all about consiste...

I'm following my friend Pam's post with a few tips of my own about writing a novel. I'll conclude with a war story about the dreaded marketing she referred t...

For some peculiar reason, people are often interested in how an author writes a book. All authors have to find the process that works best for them. What spa...