No, I haven't been able to retcon Elfblood so I can go on -- life continues being life. For various reasons, I woke up at nine thirty today, (only half hour ago. I'm two hours behind most of you) so I'm going to do a post Laura M. requested. She asked if there was some... Continue Reading →
Uncorking the Genie
We're all familiar with writer's block, even those of us who aren't writers. What, you never dreaded a school paper just because you didn't know what to say? At least with a research paper, or a book report, there's a kernel of... something there. With fiction it's both easier and harder. Easier because, as you... Continue Reading →
Calling a Spade
My apologies for my tardiness. The kitchen is a pit. I expect to need fire to cleanse it properly. Maybe napalm, though I'll have to find a recipe for that. But at least we skinned the bastard. And the cheesecake was pretty good. I think the goat cheese made it a little more dense than... Continue Reading →
The Obligatory Thanksgiving Post
Okay, I know not everyone who reads here is American, but I live in the country, and I've decided that I like the idea of a national holiday dedicated (at least in theory) to giving thanks. To looking at the many things that are good in our lives and being grateful for them. Of course,... Continue Reading →
The Novel Was THIS BIG — How to write a novel workshop — 6
There are entire books devoted to writing a “big” novel, including books with names like “How to write a blockbuster novel.” This is not one of those books in post form. Why is it not? Because those books, by and large, were designed to write a novel that NYC publishers would recognize as big and... Continue Reading →
On worldbuilding, sequels and keeping it all straight
As I was trying to figure out what to write about today, I came across this article. It's a fairly good short -- note the short -- description of some of the problems writers fall into when sticking to worldbuilding tropes. I don't necessarily agree with all of them but, as with anything, if you... Continue Reading →
Life, e-publishing and the universe in general
It’s an interesting week for me in the Chinese curse sense of interesting, with Barbs hurting her back, but that turned out not to be her back but her pelvis being out of alignment and is recovering much faster than we expected. It’s one of the features with being self-employed… not only do you hate... Continue Reading →
Weaseling Out
Yep, this post is a total weasel out. I find that I REALLY need to work on my for-pay books, and so I'm being bad. So I'm going to throw out half a dozen ideas for discussion, things I've been wondering about myself, and maybe the discussion will generate future posts: 1- How many of... Continue Reading →
The Luddites are Winning
I came across an interesting article earlier that sparked my thinking. It seems that the President of the European Commission usually has a chief scientific advisor. The role of this office is to advise on any topic having to do with science and technology. However, bowing to pressure from groups like Greenpeace, the EC has... Continue Reading →
The Joy of Creation
The Joy of Creation Pam Uphoff I don't often drink. Don't do drugs. Whatever for? I can't image anything better than the high of creation. When the idea burns bright and the words fly from somewhere beyond conscious thought and somehow appear on the screen without my quite being conscious of the keyboard. I... Continue Reading →
Mad Genius Club 