Help! There’s Religion in my Story!

It's OK. Deities happen to the best of us. There you are, standing by the corner of your desk, minding your own business, when ZOT! a character gets religion. Oh dear. How awkward. Now what? For a while, science fiction in particular was supposed to be faith-free. Oh, the character might use a deity name... Continue Reading →

The Author in the Story

No, not the so-called authorial Mary Sue/Marty Stu school of fiction, where the reader realizes that the protagonist is the author, just perfected in every way. I can think of one, maybe two people who got away with that for one book, possibly two. Stan Lee slipping himself into the comics on occasion doesn't count,... Continue Reading →

Research: But Where Do I Stop?

Pulling a Book Out of Stubborn Researchers? Author Photo, Swabisch Hall, Germany, June 2018. "Stop when you have what you need." It's the sort of advice that makes writers want to pull out any remaining hair, or to take a large, blunt object and apply it to the head or rump of the oh-so-helpful individual.... Continue Reading →

The Resurrection of Pulp

I’m at FantaSci 2022 this weekend, reporting from Raleigh, North Carolina. Even as I speak, with only Thursday for Precon, and Friday of the con, I’m having a blast, and I have two more days of this to go. This post isn’t going to be about the con, necessarily, as I plan a full AAR... Continue Reading →

Every word you say…

Has been written down... somewhere (as the Peter Sarstedt song said.). I set out to write original stories. To break new ground. I got smartarse one day... Ok more than one day. Most days. You'd think I'd learn, but I plainly don't. It's hereditary, I think. I got it from my children. Anyway, various pantsers... Continue Reading →

The time has come

'The walrus said, to speak of many things, of shoes, of ships, of sealing wax, of cabbages and kings...' It is entirely possible to confuse the latter two, so it is probably wise to avoid both because regicide is generally considered socially acceptable but regiphagy can give you gas, just like cabbages... eh. forgive me.... Continue Reading →

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