Creative Writing with the Crimson League

April 23, 2024

Here’s why I’m blogging daily again

You may have noticed I’m back! I’ve been blogging daily again for about a week now. There are two principal reasons for this. The first is that I pay for the domain and the platform. I mention this blog/website in the back matter of my books, directing readers here as one of the best places…

April 22, 2024

The blog/ social media roller coaster: part two

The social media roller coaster–inane, stupid content getting nocticed, important and useful posts getting absolutely throttled by the algorithm–can be frustrating, deflating, and confusing. I can’t tell you how to beat the algorithm. I have no idea. But here’s what I do to handle the situation as best I can: So, this is what I…

April 21, 2024

The blog/ social media roller coaster: part one

Today, I want to outline what I call the online “roller coaster” for artists and small businesses. Tomorrow I will discuss the things that help me ride the ups and downs in a healthy way. The roller coaster has two phases. THE RISE: social media and blogs (SM especially) are set up so that you…

April 20, 2024

Character Spotlight: Queen Gracia

Gracia Phinnean has become one of my favorite, and I think one of the most complex, characters in my trilogy. To the extent that I added content to books two and three for the upcoming second editions, the content I added pertains to her subplots. Drafting a prequel while working on the second editions really…

April 19, 2024

Confession: I haven’t been reading much

I haven’t read much fiction in months. Not since December and finishing “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World.” I haven’t read much at all, and what I have read has been more of a spiritual bent: G.K. Chesterton, John Henry Newman. I’ve put reading fiction on the back burner. I should get back into reading…

April 18, 2024

Thankful Thursday: Thankful for my audiobook narrator

Today, I am so excited to say that an audiobook version of “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” is currently in production. I had some eleven narrators audition to do the book, and I am so excited to have landed on the narrator I selected. She is wonderful. She’s so nice to deal with…

April 17, 2024

What I mean when I say “Herezoth has heart”

Every writer loves a good review. But sometimes, you get a review that gives evidence that your fiction is touching hearts in the way you’d hoped it would–in the way that you pray it might. I like to say that “Herezoth is for everyone,” referencing my Herezoth trilogy, and I mean it. We all need…

April 16, 2024

On artistic control as an indie author

The artistic control / freedom of an indie author is a beautiful gift, if used correctly. That said, it’s important to use it rightly. If you aren’t open to learning from editors and beta readers and such, you’re in trouble as an indie. If you aren’t able to sit back and objectively ask, “Ok, is…

April 15, 2024

Quick, easy tips to improve fiction writing (and some hard truths as well)

You may have heard most, or all of these, before. But I have seen the importance of them, how easy they are to implement, and how much they have improved the quality of my writing. Those are easy fixes. Now to some deeper, hard truths for aspiring writers out there. You do NOT need an…

April 14, 2024

Character Spotlight: Vane the Valiant

“The Magic Council: The Fight for Home” doesn’t follow only one character the way “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” follows Kora. It has a more omniscient point of view. That said, Vane Unsten is definitely the protagonist of book two of the Herezoth trilogy. He’s a sorcerer, the nephew of villain Zalski Forzythe…