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Jodie Renner


Jodie Renner is a highly respected, in-demand freelance fiction editor, who specializes in thrillers, romantic suspense, mysteries, and other crime fiction, as well as YA, mainstream, and historical fiction. Visit Jodie's editing website and her author website. Also, Facebook  and Twitter: @JodieRennerEd

Jodie's articles on writing compelling fiction appear regularly on several blogs, including her own and her group ones, The Kill Zone and this one, Crime Fiction Collective.

Jodie's popular craft-of fiction books on sale on Amazon to date in her series, An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, are Writing a Killer Thriller , available as an e-book for your Kindle, computer, tablet or smartphone, and in trade paperback; and the multi-award-winning Fire up Your Fiction (formerly titled Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power), in both e-book and paperback. Look for the third book in the series, Captivate Your Readers, out in fall 2014, and check out her Amazon Author Page  and her author website.

Jodie is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, FAPA, and several other writing organizations.

When she's not reading intriguing novels or books on writing fiction that sells, Jodie loves photography and traveling. She has traveled extensively throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East. In fact, Jodie loves traveling so much, she's thinking of changing her tagline from "Let's work together to enhance and empower your writing" to "Have laptop, will travel."

Jodie has had many varied life experiences, including a career as an English teacher and two years as a school librarian. She has a master's degree in literature and has enjoyed a lifelong passion for reading, especially fast-paced fiction.

Jodie's editing services range from deep content and stylistic editing to final copyediting, as well as critiquing manuscripts. 

JODIE'S BOOKS:

 


  Fire up Your Fiction

(Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power)

- An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Stories


Fiction writers – if you want a concise, to-the-point guidebook with great tips for honing your style, bringing your scenes to life, tightening up your writing, picking up the pace, writing more natural dialogue, and developing a more authentic, appealing voice, Fire up Your Fiction is the perfect choice.

Topics include: style blunders to avoid, showing instead of telling, streamlining cluttery sentence structures, avoiding repetitions, choosing words that nail it, pacing for power, avoiding info dumps and awkward structures, writing natural-sounding dialogue, expressing thoughts, showing character reactions, avoiding melodrama, finding your authentic voice, and more.
“What a wonderful resource for writers at any stage of their career! I wish I had this book when I first started writing. [...] I can’t think of anything important that you haven’t addressed succinctly and clearly. [...] This should be on the booklist for Master’s Programs in Writing for Publication. [...] You must be a wonderful editor to be able to write such a readable, but comprehensive book.”

~ Judge, Writer’s Digest Self-Published e-Book Awards, 2013


“This book is packed with good advice on how to spot and fix weaknesses in your fiction writing. It summarizes the combined wisdom of the last century or so of fiction teachers into one handy volume.” 
~ Randy Ingermanson, bestselling author of Writing Fiction for Dummies

“A handy checklist and self-editing guide that will get any fiction writer to a 
stronger, well-told tale.”
– James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Revision and Self-Editing, Plot and Structure, 
and The Art of War for Writers



- An Editor's Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction
 




Whether you’re planning your first novel or revising your fourth, you’ll discover lots of concrete ideas here, with examples, for taking your fiction up a level or three, gaining fans, and selling more books. Both published and aspiring authors of suspense-thrillers and any other fast-paced, popular fiction will find these tips indispensable for hooking in readers, creating compelling characters, writing a gripping opening, increasing the pace, ramping up the tension and suspense, and creating a page-turner that sells.



Praise for Writing a Killer Thriller: 

“Finally, someone who understands the thriller! More than ever an author must also be his own best editor and Jodie Renner is there to help. Writing a Killer Thriller should be on every thriller writer’s desk. It breaks down the thriller into its must-have component parts to write a scintillating, edge of the seat novel that will get readers buzzing and sales flowing.”
~ Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Jury Master and Murder One
 
“Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner is an in-depth journey through each component of the thriller. Renner breaks down the process into key elements, each essential to keeping the reader turning those pages. From character development to building suspense, Writing a Killer Thriller should be on the desk of every thriller author out there. A staple for the beginner, a refresher for the pro.”
~ Joe Moore, #1 Amazon and international bestselling co-author of The Blade and The Phoenix Apostles
“Writing is hard, editing harder, and self-editing almost impossible. Writing a Killer Thriller demystifies each of these steps on the road to a published manuscript. Read this book. It will help you now and for many years to come.”
~ DP Lyle, Macavity Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Benjamin Franklin, Scribe, and USA Best Books nominated author of the Dub Walker thriller series
“A killer of a thriller guide! Jodie Renner lays out, in clear, easy steps and lists, how the best writers craft their works of art – and shows how you can do it, too. A terrific how-to in avoiding the pitfalls and burnishing the gotta-haves of writing a bestselling thriller novel, by an editor who knows her way around action, drama and creating characters so fresh and real you’ll swear they were your friends.”
~ Shane Gericke, national bestselling and No. 1 Kindle bestselling author of Torn Apart
“Jodie Renner is a terrific fiction editor who is constantly updating her craft. She’s edited several novels for me, and I highly recommend her services and books. Even if you don’t write thrillers, her advice is applicable to writing a compelling story in almost any genre.”
~ L.J. Sellers, bestselling author of provocative mysteries and thrillers


Chapters in this book:

~ Thrillers versus Mysteries

~ The Basic Ingredients of a Killer Thriller

~ Build Your Story on a Solid Foundation

~ Avoid These Plot and Structure Gaffes

~ Invent a Charismatic but Conflicted Hero

~ Devise a Worthy Antagonist

~ Craft a Killer Opening

~ Avoid These Storytelling Gaffes

~ Put Tension on Every Page

~ Write Riveting Scenes and Chapters

~ Powerful Point of View

~ Show, Don’t Tell

~ Build in Tension and Intrigue

~ Use Foreshadowing for Maximum Reader Involvement

~ Delay, Tease, and Stretch out the Moment

~ Twists, Surprises, Epiphanies, & Revelations

~ Story Climax, Resolution, and Ending

~ Revising for Power

~ Structural Tips for Amping up Tension & Intrigue

~ Rivet Your Readers with Savvy Sentence Structure and Spacing

~ Tighten Your Writing and Pick up the Pace

~ Wrap-Up: Essential Elements of a Bestselling Thriller

~ Checklist for Ratcheting up the Tension and Suspense

~ Glossary of Fiction Terms

~ Subgenres of Thrillers

~ Resources for Thriller Writers


Upcoming e-books in this series: Those Critical First Five Pages, Powerful Point of View, and Immerse the Reader in Your Story World.