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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 a story uses tons of brain…
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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 necessarily be dealing with some specifics.…
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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 decades and travels, I’ve learned a…
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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 necessarily be dealing with some specifics.…
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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 necessarily be dealing with some specifics.…
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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 g…








