Just Write It

Can you survive in genre fiction publishing if you don’t outline, if you go AWOL from character interviews, if you go cross-eyed at color-keyed plot charts, if you would rather clean a sewer than write a synopsis?

Whether you’re indie, traditional or hybrid, the answer is yes. A veteran bestselling author shares how she’s survived and thrived through 50 books and 30 years in publishing.

USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn, who has taught writing from Australia to Washington, D.C., presents practical, proven and hard-won tips and tools for those who don’t write right.

An excellent book for writers. Great ideas that you can take away… or leave at the table. Patricia McLinn lets the reader know what has worked – and not worked – for her. And that every book can be different. – 5-star review

Also by Patricia McLinn

Word Watch: A Writer’s Guide to the Slippery, Sneaky and Otherwise Tricky.

Word Watch does for the common man or woman what Theodore Bernstein’s The Careful Writer does for the scholarly intellectual. Far more extensive than Bernstein, having been created over the course of years, it’s a valuable reference and a good read rolled into one. - 5-star review

Keep it handy on your desk. Take it along for casual browsing … Read four or five entries a day to give your brain a good workout – and your spirit a good laugh. - 5-star review

A Fun Frolic Through the English Language - review headline

About the Author

Kentucky-based Patricia McLinn is the author of more than 50 published books, including Word Watch. Her fiction titles include mysteries, romantic suspense, contemporary romance, historical romance and women’s fiction. They have topped bestseller lists and won numerous awards. She also is host of the Authors Love Readers podcast.

McLinn received a BA in English Composition from Northwestern University, adding a master’s in journalism from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism in her fourth year. She became a sportswriter at a time when women doing that were rare, starting at the Rockford (Ill.) Register-Star and becoming assistant sports editor at the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer before moving on a 20-year career at The Washington Post.

A past president of the indie authors’ group Novelists Inc., McLinn has taught writing courses and spoken about writing and the publishing business from Melbourne, Australia, to Washington, D.C., including being a guest speaker at the Smithsonian Institution.