Gah! I just realizes that Wednesday rolled around, and I didn’t post anything. But I have an excuse. I was reading. In particular, I was reading the manuscript of a fellow writer. Books, in all their glory! (Circle pointing at my book added by a friend. ;-) Writers write. We also read. In…
Lovely Guest Blog today by returning favorite, author and editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail. Danielle is the author of numerous works and the editor of, among other things, the Bad Ass Faeries Anthologies. (For more on Danielle’s work, see links at the bottom.) The Naming of Names (originally published in Allegory Magazine, www.allegoryezine.com) By Danielle Ackley-McPhail Have you…
Having recently finished a novel, I have spent some time talking to people about ending things…novels, short stories, poems, etc. So, what makes a good ending? And why is it that “An uncomfortable silence ensued” is so exactly the opposite of almost everything we would want in one? For those who did not see…
Hello Folks! Our weekly writing feature is back! We will, as promised last year, be looking at what makes Great Books, Great Characters, Great Themes, etc. In addition, we’ll be having some Guest Blogs. Today, we have a special treat! A guest blog from New Author, Rose Mccauley, whose book, has been receiving great praise. Below,…
Kestrel Lessingham, in all his glory as drawn by John C. Wright For three weeks now, I’ve been on the last two chapters of my novel. Not because I haven’t written much in the last three weeks, quite the contrary—I’ve been writing with every free moment, putting other things, like feeding the children,…
Recently, I was speaking with my son and I said: “You don’t just march to a different drummer, you have your entire own band!” This is completely true, though I should add that his is a good band. Still, it does not even play the same kind of music as anyone else’s. But this got…
So…I have a question for all you writerly types out there: Why is writing so hard? Sure, sometimes it is easy. Sometimes, we have days like yesterday, when I sat down and wrote two complete scenes, both of which just flowed onto the page and were done. Just like that. Even John did not have…
When I was young and arrogant, I used to criticize authors for not handling “obvious” issues in their books—issues which, in retrospect, were usually me jumping to some conclusion that the author could never have been expected to foresee. Well, this particular phenomena has come back to haunt me, as now similar things…
Boy, it's been a long time…almost six months. Sorry, folks. Mephisto Prospero in all his glory The other day, the kids asked me what “filing off the serial numbers” meant. They were not familiar with the concept the phrase was borrowed from, so I had to stop to explain how thieves remove serial numbers…
Today’s post appears at Danielle Ackley-McPhail’s new Literary Handiman blog. As children, so many of us dream of becoming authors, of penning some great novel and wowing the world with the vision that flows from our typing fingers. For some of us, this dream comes true…well, at least parts of it come true. Our…