When the local university sponsored a Writer in Residence for anyone from the community to have a free 15 minute appointment with a published writer – I was all over it. That 15 minute appointment taught me how important allusion is.
Allusion: a passing or casual reference, an incidental mention of something either directly or by implication: an allusion to Shakespeare.
The excerpt I sent in was an experiment. I’d written the kind of urban fantasy I wanted to read, but I hadn’t intended to sell it – so I included a few allusions I normally wouldn’t have. I always thought literary allusions were best reserved for works of literary fiction.