Important Thought

Is Your Collarbone Size English, Irish, or French?

When I’m not playing Baldur’s Gate 3, I’m generally trying to do some work on my writing. And that requires research. I love doing research. So much so, I am often guilty of going down rabbit holes that have nothing to do with what I started out researching. I’m not alone…

Damsel is a Word not a Trope

I have noticed lately a trend in which the word “damsel” is used as short-hand to mean “damsel in distress.” As in: “I need you to scream for me.” “Like a damsel?” Or: “I imagined a story where I didn’t have to be the damsel.” This chaps my hide. “Damsel”…

Why Is It Always Planets?

I only recently was able to watch STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. And I have a question about the Star Wars universe, in general. Why is it always planets? Original Star Wars (the 1977 movie) had the Death Star and destroyed Alderaan and I get that. Special effects of that…

Chatting with Lovecraft about Sex

SCENE: Young, exuberant REPORTER sits opposite quiet, horror-writing legend H.P. LOVECRAFT in a small New England sitting room filled with spindly antique furniture which has seen much use.  Reporter: You can’t believe how excited I am to be here. There are so many questions, so many questions, that fans and…

The Unexpected Evil of Obesity

If you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed it took FOUR MONTHS for my sick cat to be correctly diagnosed. Four. Horrible. Months. When I first noticed something amiss, I took my cat to the vet and told them he was losing weight very quickly. They weighed him…

The Cat Who Lived

My cat has cancer. Large cell stomach cancer. Had it been small cell, he’d have a good chance of recovery, they said. But this is large cell. Stop talking about What You Could Have Done If It Were Different and TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITH THE REALITY I HAVE,…

Of Cats And Veterinary Health Care Costs

As some of you may know, my cat is sick. He has a cardiologist appointment tomorrow. You know how there’s always people who, when you say, “I’m having my tonsils out.” they say, “I know someone who died from that.” instead of “good luck” or “I’ll be thinking of you”?…

Advice for Beginning Writers Part 3

Flying by the seat of your pants is old aviation slang for flying by instinct, by how it feels rather than using your (at the time rudimentary) tech instruments. In the writing world, starting your book with no plot pre-planning, just putting pen to paper and seeing where you go,…

Advice for Beginning Writers Part 2

So now you know how you’re going to write. You’ve got your pen or your keyboard. What now? Most Craft-Of-Writing books are full of useless advice. Don’t put in excess information (info dump). Yeah, obviously. But if you’re a beginner, how do you recognize what’s excess and what’s not? Don’t…

Advice for Beginning Writers Part 1

I was asked a very long time ago to post some advice about writing for beginning authors. This is more difficult than it sounds. Writing is… Okay, I’m not going to say it’s a mystical experience that can’t be pinned down, or that it’s something one does and cannot be…

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