writing

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…

Facebook Party May 19, 2015

Come to the Facebook Party TODAY!! I’ll be there from 4:20 – 4:40pm Eastern (2:20 – 2:40pm Mountain) time. Come chat with me! Click here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/471379986347936/ Please. Seriously. Don’t leave me alone on Facebook. Lots of other authors will be there throughout the day, of course. Giving away PRIZES. FREE…

Chile Ristras and Petroglyphs on the Volcanoes

These are chile ristras. This photo is from the Petroglyph National Monument website, which has lovely ones on display at their Visitor Center. If you ever get to Albuquerque, do make a point of going to the Petroglyph National Monument. You may not know it, but New Mexico is one…

COVER REVEAL

*drumroll please* Yes! Here it is! Remember that oddly dark yet adorable m/m romance short story I wrote last autumn? I moaned about it several times on Twitter back then. Well… its publication date is FINALLY ALMOST HERE. And as the first step in the promo process, I bring to…

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…

CosPlay Is Killing Creators

So today I was reading this article where the wife of a Star Wars artist blames cosplayers for comic creators not making money at conventions. I must say my first thought was, “Who goes to San Diego Comic-Con for comics?” Which is obviously sad in a way, since it originally…

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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