#NaNoWriMo: Day 2—How to De-Angst Novel #Writing

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...

A Tricky (But Important) Lesson

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...

Book Day! And onto the future!

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...

The Craft of #Writing: The Workbook Productivity Hack

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...

The craft of #writing: ratcheting chapter tension

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...

Hugo Nominee Review: A Desolation Called Peace – Arkady Martine

This year, I’m reviewing all of the nominees for the Hugo Best Novel award. My hope is to provide a brief overview, an analysis of world-building, characters, and narrative pace/structure, and what I feel its strengths and weaknesses are. I will attempt to avoid any major spoilers but will...

A Writer Looks at Fifty

(With apologies to Jimmy Buffet for paraphrasing the title of one of his hit songs.) So … Birthday today. Fifty years. Half a century on this ball of mud, and I kicked around a good part of in my time as a military brat and military member. In those...

Hugo Nominee Review: the galaxy, and the ground within – Becky Chambers

This year, I’m reviewing all of the nominees for the Hugo Best Novel award. My hope is to provide a brief overview, an analysis of world-building, characters, and narrative pace/structure, and what I feel its strengths and weaknesses are. I will attempt to avoid any major spoilers but will...

Hugo Nominee Review: Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir

This year, I’m reviewing all of the nominees for the Hugo Best Novel award. My hope is to provide a brief overview, an analysis of world-building, characters, and narrative pace/structure, and what I feel its strengths and weaknesses are. I will attempt to avoid any major spoilers but will...

The Boatman Statue an editor’s choice in Star*Line

I have a new poem out this week! "The Boatman Statue" is in the latest issue of Star*Line, and because the poem was selected as an editor's choice, it's available to read online, as a teaser to get you to buy the full issue--or even join the SFPA and...