I was at the storycraft meeting for my writing group earlier this week, and while we were mostly talking about pacing (ah, pacing), we also had gotten somewhat sidetracked on dystopian stories. (To be fair, we got there from talking
The Appeal of Family Secrets
First of all, Squiders, let me apologize for the lack of a post at the end of last week. I’m afraid Leonard Nimoy’s death threw me off my game, and I may have spent a lot of time trolling Tumblr
The Novella Hype
Last summer, Tor announced the creation of a new imprint dedicated to novellas. Last week they put out their list of inaugural titles, which seems to have caused a bit of a stir among the authors I talk to or
Speculative Fiction is a Product of its Time
If you remember, last year I acquired and read a short story collection of the best science fiction and fantasy stories from 1959. For those too lazy to click the link, I mentioned that I thought that most, if not
The “Logic” of Fairy Tales
The other night, my husband was reading the small, mobile one Rapunzel. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, a pregnant woman craves the lettuce in the witch’s garden next door, and the witch says she can have it
The Reliability of Beta Readers vs Length of Book
Ah, beta readers. An essential tool for most writers, and yet, sometimes, one of the most infuriating. A beta reader, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a reader to whom you give a draft of your story,
The Hobbit Movies: Actually True to the Book?
So, Squiders, I finally did it! I finally, after twenty years and who knows how many times of trying, have read The Hobbit. (I’ve read the Lord of the Rings multiple times and had no trouble with The Silmarillion, so this has always
Do Writing Prompts Work?
Ah, writing prompts. They’re everywhere. Daily ones, writing exercise ones, lists of prompts, music prompts, picture prompts. But how effective are they? Well, it depends. It depends on lots of things. What your goals are. What you’re hoping to get
Even Outlining Goes Awry
Ah, outlining. Some people hate it. Some people swear by it. The longer I’ve written professionally, the more I’ve come to like outlining, both as a writing tool, but more as an editing tool. One of the last steps I
Tie-in Fiction Friday: Star Trek #8 Black Fire
Here’s something I’m going to try out on and off throughout the year, Squiders. I think there’s a bit of stigma against tie-in fiction, to some extent. And I don’t mean a book that gets made into a movie (though
