Feed your need for SF & Fantasy
(This is my third year of posting a summary of my writing and word counts, so part three.) So … Another year under the belt. In terms of word production, 2022 was my worst year since 2019. I ended up penning around 280K new words this year, so lemme break it down: Tales of Bleakwater … Continue reading Excelsior! Part 3
Every four years, when the world cup comes around, I find myself thinking more about national identity. It’s one of the few times I feel myself connected closely to my German-ness, brings lots of opportunities to talk with people of other nationalities about a shared passion, and shows interesting patterns for how differently people can […]
These past months have been chaos. No apologies or explanations, but there have been a number of things published since my last post. They will be included in this award eligibility post:In 2022 I had 8 short stories published, 3 poems, and 2 novels (t…
I love teaching Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express because many students enjoy the departure from texts they’re used to studying and they really get into the mystery genre. Many will have already seen the 2017 Kenneth Branagh film adaptation and ask whether we’ll be watching that in class. I tell them I’ve got […]
Ask a Writer Asked and answered on Quora. The Original Question: Is it worth to be an author? It’s the best thing ever, but not for the reasons you think. 1) Your time is your own. You can wake up when you want to, sleep when it suits you, and you don’t let a clock […]
Even if you despise outlining, give it a shot. A few hours of outlining with save days of beating your head on your laptop. Trust the woman that writes novels for a living on a deadline. An outline will give you a clearer idea of where your characters are heading and make it easier for […]
I decided to take a risk in one of my classes a few weeks ago. I’ve taught Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 for many years to my Honors 10 English students and it generally gets a good response. Students appreciate the storytelling, note the patterns with other dystopian stories they’re familiar with, and generally connect quite […]
So … New book day! My second book in the Tales of Bleakwater, series, The Burnt Ends of Bad Ideas, is now live and in the wild. This volume focuses on Kayla’s sister Mara as she struggles to find her purpose after the events of No Rest for Wicked Thieves. Links on the book page. … Continue reading Book Day! And onto the future!
One of my writing friends on FWO asked me to write about I how I organize my work so that I’m productive in my ghostwriting business. Everyone has their own writing process. What works for me may not work for you. But I’m glad to share my tools to push, force to help me produce […]
Like a pinball, your story bounces around in your head, hitting your occipital lobe, hippocampus, and the front of your brain, lighting them all up with the act of creation. If you are a master writer, you light up the caudate nucleus, which handles skills gained over time. Creating a story uses tons of brain […]