Nutty Chitter from a Caffeinated Critter
Last Friday, I was showing my best friend the latest developments with my digital painting and a few pictures I’ve taken of Hero Guy. She and I have been hanging out weekly for the past 14 years. She’s seen all the many projects I’ve started (not necessarily finished). Often, she sighs and says, “You’re so…
I love writing. Every day, bits and pieces of my stories work their way onto the computer screen. Maybe it’s book two. It might be book three. On a rare occasion, I discover details about book four and how it ties to the others. I jump around a lot. But what about the rest of…
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m still catching my breath from the holidays. Oh, it wasn’t super busy at the Town’s End. In fact, I didn’t even get around to hosting my annual surf ‘n turf meal to celebrate the new year. But I’m all fidgety, like I’m falling behind with…
I made it to 50K! Then why am I not a winner yet? As I mentioned last week, I’m keeping two counts. I was actually on point with my keepable word count. I had 39.5K yesterday. But then I was listening to music and heard a song I mentally tied to one of my scenes….
I took a week off! Did you miss me? After a week of holing up in my garage with my computer, several cans of Red Bull, and space heater to avoid the children, I’ve managed to get a decent amount of words dedicated to Isto: Though my word count looks good, I’m actually behind. That…
Right now, I’m not insecure. I’ve been writing a lot lately. Well, a lot for me with my current progress. I’ve gotten down 18K in the past couple of weeks. It’s all in Isto. I had to rework my plan toward the end of the book because I no longer liked the idea of the…
Fires in the Treasure Valley have dropped our air quality conditions to poor. My son’s asthma has him wheezing, I’m struggling to breath through my nose, and my husband is coughing. My daughter, thankfully, seems unaffected. But she’s got too much to think about. She’s in Kindergarten now. Sometimes I wonder how emotionless I really…
I know prologues are considered one of those deadly sins of writings, but it’s one of the “rules” I’m willing to break. But what if I have two prologues for the same story? I’ve read books with multiple prologues. They don’t bother me. But I’ve encountered people who assume prologue == bad writing. They immediately…
I’ve been thinking a lot about character motivation lately. My turn is coming up soon for my local critique group, so I’ve been looking at the early chapters of Isto, Thanmir War‘s sequel. My buddy, Jim, pointed me to the John D. Brown archives on the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America website. Part…
Last week, I mentioned it was taking me too long to figure out Isto. A lot of you guys had great suggestions of reading through my existing work to rekindle my passion. While I do enjoy my story and would love to write in it, I’m stuck on a single issue. I don’t know how…