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Walker Buckalew
Apr 11, 20223 min read
Constructing Novels: Part Four
In Part Three, I described the importance of contributions of in-process readers of manuscripts. And I closed by noting that, aside from...
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Walker Buckalew
Apr 11, 20222 min read
Constructing Novels: Part Three
When my wife Linda finished reading her third three-chapter block of manuscript pages for A Fearful Thing – on its way to becoming the...
10 views
Walker Buckalew
Mar 23, 20223 min read
“How Is a Person Supposed to Read Fiction?”
C. S. Lewis told his readers and his correspondents repeatedly that, when you read fiction, you will not have a good experience unless...
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Walker Buckalew
Mar 9, 20223 min read
Real-Life Characters: A Fearful Thing
I have mentioned in earlier posts that the characters in my novels are not based on actual people. Rather, I normally create my...
12 views
Walker Buckalew
Feb 1, 20222 min read
Cover Art: A Fearful Thing
Before the proliferation of e-readers – and using them as convenient and inexpensive substitutes for actual books – the cover art...
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Walker Buckalew
Dec 14, 20213 min read
“I really enjoyed your book”: A Fearful Thing
Occasionally I – like other authors – get notes from people who have read one of my novels. They sometimes write, “I really enjoyed your...
37 views
Walker Buckalew
Nov 19, 20213 min read
Why is there Violence in the Rebecca novels? A Fearful Thing
Near the end of my second adult-level novel – the second in the Rebecca Series – we read this passage: The gunman, kicking wildly at her...
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Walker Buckalew
Nov 2, 20213 min read
Romance in the Rebecca Series: A Fearful Thing
In previous posts, I’ve suggested that, in action/mystery novels, a background romance can add suspense to the mystery and depth to the...
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Walker Buckalew
Oct 18, 20212 min read
Good Endings: A Fearful Thing
At the end of the highly successful film The Bourne Identity, the actor Matt Damon somehow finds the actress Franka Potente on what...
25 views
Walker Buckalew
Sep 27, 20213 min read
Boats and Ships and Weapons: A Fearful Thing
My stories – adult and young adult – often feature boats or ships at some point. What’s the difference? Well, the easiest way to think...
16 views
Walker Buckalew
Sep 10, 20213 min read
Action Scenes: A Fearful Thing
A Fearful Thing, the fifth novel in my Rebecca Series, opens with a car chase through the streets of London. On page two of the book, we...
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Walker Buckalew
Aug 24, 20213 min read
Researching Novels: "A Fearful Thing"
My new novel, A Fearful Thing, is the fifth novel in the Rebecca Series. It is set in the year 1985, four (fictional) years after the...
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Walker Buckalew
Aug 10, 20213 min read
The Female Lead Character in the Rebecca Series and in the new release: A Fearful Thing
Over the years, when I have found myself speaking to students in their classrooms, or to adults at book-signing events, I have often been...
41 views
Walker Buckalew
Jul 26, 20212 min read
Sympathetic Characters: Self-Reflection versus “Wallowing”
I have noted before, in other posts, how fast and hard I tend to get rolling when an action scene approaches. Since I am fast on the...
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Walker Buckalew
Jul 13, 20213 min read
How Long is a Novel?
In the introduction to his novel tilted Winter Prey, John Sandford observes that this story was one of his first in which the novel’s...
31 views
Walker Buckalew
Jun 27, 20212 min read
Creating “Evil” Characters
Authors, readers, and book reviewers often agree that in many novels, the “evil” character is the one who is the most carefully developed...
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Walker Buckalew
Jun 14, 20212 min read
What Exactly is a “Christian Novel?"
During book readings and other kinds of presentations related to my novels, I have often been asked that kind of question. The most...
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Walker Buckalew
May 31, 20213 min read
Constructing Novels: Part Two
In Part One of this two-part post, I wrote about how novels are often pieced together. And I mentioned that, in the first two novels in...
42 views
Walker Buckalew
May 16, 20212 min read
Constructing Novels: Part One
Whenever I am a guest teacher for an hour or so in a high-school or middle-school English class, I usually pull a novel off of the...
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Walker Buckalew
May 3, 20212 min read
Names and Not-Names
What do authors think about when choosing names for the characters in their novels? This is a question I get often at book signings or in...
38 views
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