Hey, guys! We’re doing this today rather than Thursday because we’ve got our Winterking discussion then. (Are you guys reading that with me? At first I thought it was better but we seem to be delving back into familiar confusion as we
Fun Scifi Tropes: Superpowers
Hey gang! Here’s the first of the tropes post I was talking about last week! A trope, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a common or overused theme or device.” (Also “a word or expression used in a figurative sense” such as
Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero and Related Scooby Doo Thoughts
Have you seen Meddling Kids, squiders? The cover on my copy is neon pink and green, with tentacles, so it’s rather striking. I picked up the book because I enjoyed Cantero’s first novel The Supernatural Enhancements (2014, which I probably picked up because
8 Ways to Expand a Story Idea into Something Usable
Good morning, squiders! Back to ideas for today, and then I may leave the rest of the subject for the book and accompanying workbook and move on to something else. Today we’ll talk about how to take your inkling of
The Finnbranch Readalong: Yearwood
Hey hey, Squiders! Only one day late, which, considering how this week has gone, is a freaking miracle. So, Yearwood, book one of the Finnbranch trilogy. Did you guys read this? It’s so very ’80s fantasy it almost hurts. We’ve
Why Go Looking for Writing Ideas?
First of all, squiders, I apologize for disappearing off the grid. Normally when I go out of town I pre-write and schedule the posts, but we took a spontaneous trip last week and I didn’t have time to get things
Language Barriers in Speculative Fiction
Hey hey, so apparently I was going to write this post two years ago, got as far as “WOO” and never went back to it. Good job on focusing, me. Language barriers are something common that you find in science
PPWC Session Wrap-up, Final
Here’s the last PPWC wrap-up post, Squiders, so if you haven’t been digging them, you can rest assured that we will definitely talk about something else next week. Maybe we should a readalong. Haven’t done one of those in a
PPWC Session Wrap-up, Part 2
I always wonder if you can piecemeal PPWC. There’s always notes about what to do if you’re missing a meal (and if you’re at the conference for the whole weekend, why would you? It’s included in the price and the
PPWC Session Wrap-up, Part 1
Good morning, Squiders. I’m back from PPWC, and now that I’ve gotten some sleep, I am vaguely functional again. I’ve gone to PPWC before, and I’ve done conference write-ups after the fact for all of them, so I thought I’d
