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Holly Lisle
Full-time novelist Holly Lisle has published more than thirty novels with major publishers. Her next novel, THE RUBY KEY, (Orchard Books) will be on shelves May 1st. You can receive her free writing newsletter, Holly Lisle's Writing Updates at http://hollylisle.com/newsletter.html
Articles by this Author
Life, Passion... Deadline -Article
- Published 05/15/2008
- Writing
The Conclusion of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
You're ready to write the story of your life You've put your heart and soul into it
Planning A Heart-Stopping Story -Article
- Published 05/7/2008
- Writing
Part VII of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
Over the last six lessons, you've figured out your theme, and you've worked out at least one and possibly several subthemes You've learned how to use blended scenes, intercuts, and cliffhangers to work both themes and subthemes into your work
Interweaving Your Novel's Themes And Subthemes -Article
- Published 04/28/2008
- Writing
Part VI of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
When you're writing a book, you want every page to drag the reader to the next one, even if she's late for work, even if it's two o'clock in the morning and he needs to be up at six, even if the plane has landed and your weary traveller really must get bags in hand and get off the plane
Dig Deeper With Your Novel's Subthemes -Article
- Published 04/23/2008
- Writing
Part V of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
By now, you have a solid grasp of the importance of having a theme for your story, of keeping it personal and hidden (to avoid writing the dreaded Message Book), and of hanging on to the courage of your convictions in writing it the way you need to, knowing that you cannot ever please everyone, nor should you try
Playing Chicken With Your Story -Article
- Published 04/15/2008
- Writing
Part IV of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
And now we come to the hard bit You've got your theme, and you've figured out how to bury it so that it's there for you, and SOMETHING meaningful is there for your reader
Burying Your Novel's Message -Article
- Published 04/10/2008
- Writing
Part III of the 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
In the first two articles, we've explored how essential it is to have a theme to give your novel direction, and how to find those themes that will resonate with you
You'd think that once you have a theme, you could just sit down and write your book about that, and you'd bring powerful emotions and passionate storytelling and compelling, page-turning action to your tale---but it just ain't so
How To Find Your Novel's Pulse -Article
- Published 04/1/2008
- Writing
PART II of The 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
The best novels you've ever read---the ones that stuck in your mind and kept you going back to re-read them, that made you think, that made you feel, maybe that scared your socks off---were not about what they were about
Sound cryptic
Does Your Novel Have A Heartbeat? -Article
- Published 03/27/2008
- Writing
PART I of The 8-Part BRING YOUR NOVEL TO LIFE Series
You've read through what you've written---your first few scenes, your first chapter, your completed novel---and you've discovered that your words don't move you They don't make you want to keep reading

































