Author Archives: Kelly J. Ford

About Kelly J. Ford

Kelly J. Ford is the Anthony-nominated author of Real Bad Things; Cottonmouths, a Los Angeles Review Best Book of 2017; and The Hunt. Kelly writes crime fiction set in the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley. Find out more at kellyjford.com, on Twitter, and on Instagram.

Beyond the Closet: Writing Gay Characters

As an out writer in a large writing community, I sometimes get questions from fellow writers about writing gay characters. Typically, there’s some low-level anxiety about “getting it right.” I love these questions. It means that the writer has or is…

Counting Characters: A Lesson in Diversity

My Novel Incubator instructors loved to tell us to kill our characters. Most of us came into class with drafts bloated with characters who served no purpose, so it was sound advice. During revision, I created a giant diagram of all…

Debut Author Debrief

I’m about a month out from the publication of my debut novel, Cottonmouths, and let me tell you, it’s been a whirlwind. But my whirlwind is definitely different from other authors’ whirlwinds because as I’ve mentioned before, we’re all special…