Mikaela Ravizee

When she's not reading, binging Netflix, abandoning her outlines, or finding more ways to make her characters miserable, Mikaela Ravizee is trying to convince herself she likes what she writes. She does most of the time and she hopes you do too. This is a not-so-calculated risk. So naturally, she's winging it.

KD Casey

KD Casey is a romance writer and baseball fan, (particularly of women’s baseball) based in the Washington, DC, area.

Nephele Tempest

I think one of the keys to sparkling dialogue is to remember it should sound like something someone might say, but should work far harder than dialogue does in real-life situations. Pare down written dialogue to eliminate the bulk of the chit-chat and filler language that you get in a live conversation. Consider the substance of what the characters are saying. What does the conversation tell each of the people in the scene? What more could it be telling the reader? Think about nuances and double meanings and how you can convey levels of characterization through word choices. Then be sure to read it all aloud to hear how it flows and make sure the sentences don’t sound awkward. 

Melissa Jeglinski

Definitely read your dialogue out loud and carefully listen to be certain it sounds natural.  And remember, in real life not every person speaks the same way or uses the same phrases.  Giving a distinct voice to each character always makes dialogue stand out and sparkle. 

Kristy Hunter

The best way to make sure dialogue stays exciting and snappy is to make sure you are not simply using it as an information dump. Often, in real conversations, so much goes unsaid—or people don’t say what they truly mean—and that is where the real tension lies! Break up dialogue with action and don’t burden the reader with unnecessary parts of the conversation—cut to the chase and keep the story flowing.  

Janna Bonikowski

The best advice I ever heard for writing great dialogue was something along the lines of “Go out in public, eavesdrop on a conversation, and write every word down.” If you’re looking for a less “Why is this person being creepy” option (probably best), studying conversation patterns in TV shows or movies is a great avenue, as is listening to audiobooks with great dialogue. The point is to listen to how people talk. What they say or don’t say. How much of the conversation is based on nonverbal cues and how much is verbal. It’s also important to pay attention to the relationship of the people in a conversation.

People who know each other well talk to each other in a different way than strangers. They have their own “codes,” little cues and reminders of their shared history.

Travis Pennington

Learn the difference between direct and indirect dialogue. Direct dialogue is realistic, but boring. It simply answers questions, but doesn't make for very memorable, interesting characters.
Indirect dialogue does the opposite.

Direct dialogue example:
"What ya doin'?" Joe asked.
"Reading."
"Reading what?"
"Moby-Dick."
"Is it any good?"
"Just a fishing story."
"I ... I wanted to ask you something."
"What?"
Joe's hands were sweaty. "Will you go out with me this weekend?"
"I'd love to."

Indirect dialogue example:
"I have to sit down here, it's my job," Joe said.
"Oh?" said Mary, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Yeah, the school pays me a buck fifty an hour to study in the cafeteria and serve as a good example."
"Sit anywhere you like, it's a free country."
Joe smiled at her and said, "I know your future."
"How would you know my future?"
"I read Tarot cards."
"I don't believe in Tarot cards, my family is Unitarian."
Joe took the cards out of his pocket and shuffled them. He put the first one down. He said, "You're going to be picked up at 8pm by a devastatingly handsome young man in a green Chevy Nova."

Give each character a private agenda, something they don't want to express directly. Their private agendas drive the conversation through what's half-spoken and unspoken. And the agendas show up in gestures, tone of voice, and other non-verbal signs.

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Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew escort Spock’s father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan, to a dilithium-rich planet called Akiron. They arrive to find this world under siege by creatures that some of the planet’s denizens believe are demons. Sarek orders Kirk to abandon the mission, but the young captain won’t turn his back on people in danger. After a harrowing encounter with the dark-energy “demons,” Kirk’s belief in a rational universe is challenged by a mystic who insists that it wasn’t coincidence that brought Kirk to Akiron, but the alien equivalent of a Karmic debt.

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A woman unlocks the mystery of her father’s wartime past in a moving novel about secrets, sacrifice, and the power of love by the bestselling author of Daughters of the Night Sky.

Beth Cohen wants to make the most of the months she has left with her elderly father, Max. His only request of his daughter is to go through the long-forgotten box of memorabilia from his days as a medic on the western front. Then, among his wartime souvenirs, Beth finds a photograph of her father with an adoring and beautiful stranger—a photograph worth a thousand questions.

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Paperback

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

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The wizards of the Cold War must uncover a secret cabal responsible for the Kennedy assassination in The Shadow Commission, New York Times bestselling author David Mack's globe-spanning historical fantasy sequel to The Iron Codex.

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Having trouble finding the perfect name for your new baby? One that celebrates your favorite fandom, whether you want it to be immediately recognizable or something cool that won’t sound out of place on the playground? Naming Your Little Geek is here to save the day! This ultimate guidebook is complete with every name a geek could ever want to give their baby, their meanings, and a list of all the legends who have borne them. From Anakin and Frodo to Indiana and Clark, Gwen and Wanda to Buffy and Xena, you can choose which is best for you and your baby. But use it with caution―a kid will never live down a name like Legolas! (But who says that’s a bad thing?)

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Jessie Van Buren has to get through the vacation her sister booked for her. A week of incredible surfing in gorgeous Hawaii? She can handle that. Then she can get back to the business of finding funding for her new app and taking the tech world by storm. But when tall, tanned and deliciously tattooed surfer Byron Keahi literally steals her wave, all her sexual self-control goes along with it.