Alas, October draws to an end. And Nanowrimo looms. It’s interesting–I learned about Nano in 2002, started doing it back in 2003–and back then it was the weird indie thing, and maybe there were a couple thousand of us doing
MileHiCon This Weekend (First Con Table)
So, this weekend is MileHiCon, which is a scifi/fantasy convention in Denver, Colorado. I shall be manning a table for Turtleduck Press for most of the weekend, and I’m a little terrified. Why you ask? Well, many reasons. One, I’ve
Old-School Scifi
So, a few months ago, we were at our local thrift store on one of their half-off-everything days, and I discovered that someone had donated a ton of old scifi books from the 50s. Andre Norton, Asimov, people I’ve never
Reinventing Beloved Characters
There are beloved characters in our culture, characters that everyone knows about, even if they haven’t seen or read the originating material. And they get used in phrases or idioms, or you can use them for comparison or descriptions, and
How Reading Order Influences
So, last weekend, I was talking to a random person about scifi and fantasy authors, comparing things we’d read and suggesting new people and the like, and we had the following exchange. Guy> Oh, {author} is like Philip K. Dick.
Nano Pondering (and a ROW80 Check-in)
My husband said I couldn’t have any more tea until I wrote my blog post. Can you imagine? Noooo I’m dying Let’s do the ROW80 check-in first. For those who have missed previous ROW80 posts, ROW80 is a writing challenge
Why You Need to Know Your Focus
Let’s face it, Squiders–everyone writes a little differently. What works for one person does not work for another, and how someone sets up their story may be completely different for the next person. But I do feel like focus is
Are Blank First Person Characters on Purpose?
So, our Twitter book club is reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin this month–which is the first of a high fantasy trilogy that came out about four years ago–and we all noticed something pretty quick. The book is
How Your Subconscious Affects Your Character Interactions
When I was editing Shards last year, I came to a realization about my own writing, and I’ve since talked to several other authors who have confirmed that this happens to them as well. As an author, you’re privy to
When Your Brain is All Over the Place
I find myself kind of in a weird place at the moment, Squiders. Normally I am excellent at compartmentalizing my writing, at working on a single big project at a time (with some side smaller projects), and everything is fine
