I’m into the final revision on this co-written story coming out in May, and there was some commonality among comments from the editor and our beta readers: The setting reads a little generic My main character’s initial plan seems a
The Future of the Readalongs
If you’ve been with me for a while, Squiders, you know that I have traditionally done a readalong or two a year (depending on series length). The last one we did was The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, which wrapped
Library Book Sale Finds: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
I think I picked this one up because it sounded like it might be magical realism, though I’m not sure where I got that impression. It’s not; it instead falls into that category of family/personal drama. As kind of an
2015 Books in Review
If you’ve been with me for awhile, Squiders, you know I keep a list of every book I read in a year, along with genre, publication year, and a rating out of 5. Then, at the end of the year,
The Increasingly Muddy Line Between Fantasy and Science Fiction
Have I shown you my speculative fiction pyramid, squiders? Hold on, let me do a quick paint drawing for you. Tada! Behold, the speculative fiction pyramid. Because, back when I was doing the Subgenre Study, I found it increasingly difficult
Library Book Sale Finds: The Grail Tree
It’s that time of month again, Squiders. I’ve dug into the library book sale books from this summer and read another, and now I’ve come to tell you about it. (One might ask why the library book sale books are
Those Plodding Books (Or How I Just Finished a Book I Started Last October)
Have you ever read a book, Squiders, that seemed to take you forever? It’s not so godawful that you want to throw it away and never touch it again, but neither is it riveting enough to pull you through it
The Rule of Three
Threes are important throughout human society, mythology, and literature. There’s something very ancient and instinctual about using threes, and you’ll find them everywhere. Storytelling is no different in this. One of the most common story structures is the three act
Creating a Shared World
Shared worlds are an old and familiar subject to many people, I think. But for those who are unfamiliar with the concept, a shared world is a common world which many people write in. The Thieves World anthologies from the
Library Book Sale Finds: Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Most of what we grabbed at the library book sales this summer were scifi and fantasy, but I love a good mystery and so I ended up with a fair amount of those as well. And I love Agatha Christie,
