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Thankful Thursday: Thankful for Cajun and Creole food
Jambalaya. Chicken and Andouille Gumbo. Fried Shrimp Poboy. Crawfish Etouféé Red beans and Rice. I grew up around New Orleans, and while I’ve moved away and returned more than once, I returned most recently in 2020 and have been living around that area since. Besides my family, the best thing about living here is the…
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Movies can get away with being action-driven. Novels can’t.
While movies and novels both tell stories, it’s important to remember that they do this in very different ways. They are two very different mediums. Movies can get away with being action-driven because they are visual. (And boy, do modern superhero flicks and other modern films try to pull this off!) An action movie can…
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Character development and internal tension
Not all conflict in fiction needs to be, or should be, external. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of the fundamental things. A video on YouTube on “The Closer Look” channel did this for me yesterday. A dynamic character IS dynamic precisely when the reader understands that there are various impulses, often conflicting, at work…
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Will, Intellect, and Empathy/Emotion
I read in a book by Peter Kreeft that there are three dimensions to the human heart considered in the deepest, fullest, most inclusive sense: the human power of the will, the intellect, and our emotions. All can guide us. All clamor for attention. I was FASCINATED when he mentioned various literary trios who tend…
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Sunday Reflection: When you have a problem with someone
In this week’s Gospel passage at Mass, Jesus tells us what to do when we have a problem with someone. Now, this passage (from Matthew 18:15-20) is often used by Catholics to show that Jesus intended to create an institutional Church, and I don’t disagree with that. (I AM Catholic precisely because I understand this…
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On prequels and plot armor
The prequel to my trilogy is still in developmental editing stages, but writing it was an interesting experience due to the issue of plot armor. If you’re not familiar with the term, “plot armor” describes a scenario where readers/viewers know a character MUST survive a scene or even an entire story due to outside circumstances–the…
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My favorite edit to book two of my trilogy
I’m still so excited to be getting second editions of my trilogy out, and that book one is now available. Book two is currently with beta readers. I’ve made some big cuts to book two (some 10,000 words!), but my favorite edit is the one major thing I’ve added. I have fleshed out the relationship…
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Thankful Thursday: Let’s talk about coffee
My sister works in forensics/pathology, and she has confirmed that my family has a gene that means we process caffeine a lot faster than other people. I’m not sure whether I have that particular gene or not. I do drink coffee (usually two cups a day, one in the morning with prayer and one in…
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What I miss about academia
I was doing well in my doctoral program in Spanish literature before I withdrew in 2013. (I was lucky to be on fellowship. They had been paying me to teach undergrads and covered my tuition, so I didn’t have any loans). I had finished my coursework but still had to take oral exams and write…
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I’M BACK!!! My first real royalties in ten years just paid out
YEARS after taking down my trilogy to completely re-edit (professionally) and re-release in comprehensive second edition installments, my first royalties on the second edition of “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” just paid out. This comes a day after someone commented on Facebook that my book had them “enthralled,” and it will “live rent-free…
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Creative Writing with the Crimson League 