I love high stakes stories. I love when the heroes have to battle against all odds and sacrifice all of themselves to reach the end goal. And I love when that end goal is "life as we know it" or Armageddon. And I love the hero who is plucky and normal but housing some extraordinary … Continue reading Abandoning or Embracing Cliché’s
I shall open with a small confession. I have an amazing husband. He not only works full time, but he enjoys spoiling me with expenditures that I would normally not afford myself. For instance, a year's worth of Master Class where I can listen to Neil Gaiman chat about storytelling is not something I would … Continue reading Week 4 – Camp Nano 2021
I'm not certain who first coined the phrase that writers must "kill their darlings" but I find myself staring down the barrel of my proverbial gun today. With my shelter book finally completed - yes, that only took me all of COVID and then some to finish - I am on to the next project! … Continue reading Killing Darlings
Writing is not for the faint of heart. When I started this whole writing thing, I was a child who thought it was great fun. One assignment from a teacher in the sixth grade opened the world of fiction to me and I played around with all the fantasy, making shallow stories that grazed through … Continue reading The Courage It Takes
Recently I began reading a new book from one of my favorite authors. I had been looking forward to this book because it was revisiting 1800's London and the author had done a beautiful job describing that time period. I also love the fantastical elements of the world she created. Urban fantasy is fascinating to … Continue reading Casting the Book
A while back I finished my 3rd and I'd hoped final revision of Song of Bones/Melody of Bones/that dragon story I always wanted to write but kept putting off. My stubborn brain insisted it was complete, that I had told the story the best way I knew how, and that it was time to set … Continue reading Chagrin – Tempering the Writer
This month's round robin is open for a bit of interpretation. The main thrust of the question is how you maintain continuity from start to finish in a novel. Which brings me to the title of the post - The 3/4 Mark. Over the years, I've discovered that my personal writing process requires a break … Continue reading The 3/4 Mark – May Round Robin
A few years ago I would have said that editing was the hardest part of writing. Today, however, editing is one of my favorite parts of the process because I've learned how to accept that a rough draft is crappy no matter what. Accepting that fact has freed me to laugh at myself when I … Continue reading The Hardest Part of Writing…
My writing career started with Sedition, a fantasy novel about a pair of brothers trying to rescue their mother. The book went through several revisions - and so many titles it hurts my head to think about - but in January of 2011 its story line was set in stone. (Mostly because the publishing house … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Fantasy
I know, I know. I probably should have mentioned all the birthday shenanigans over the last week but ... Hey, I was busy doing fun things. Like visiting Craters of the Moon and going to the movies and eating steak and having pie. (I maintain that pie is better than cake.) But in the middle … Continue reading Birthday Shenanigans and Release Buzz
