Howard Mittelmark

Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half of a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawful mess.

In real life, couples bond and war over a million different things. The causes of divorce are like beautiful, unique snowflakes.

Overuse at best is needless clutter; at worst, it creates the impression that the characters are overacting, emoting like silent film stars. Still, an adverb can be exactly what a sentence needs. They can add important intonation to dialogue, or subtly convey information.

A good approach is to allow one dream per novel. Then, in the final revision, go back and get rid of that, too.

We do not propose any rules; we offer observations. "No right on red" is a rule. "Driving at high speed toward a brick wall usually ends badly" is an observation.

...it has been demonstrated through years of workshops that the Artist Within tends to make the same mistakes as the artist within everybody else.