Category: Creative Writing

• October 7, 2023

  What they don’t tell you when you start writing

  They don’t tell you, when you start writing fiction, that your own characters will almost certainly break your heart. That you might well cry revising your own story, overwhelmed by what is happening to your characters (especially if you let it sit as long as you should before going back to revise). They don’t tell…
• October 5, 2023

  Thankful Thursday: grateful for my growth as a writer over ten years

  It’s a crazy thing, publishing a trilogy, never doing much marketing on it and taking it all down, and ten years later, going back to it to make a professional go of it. It’s amazing to see the change in quality from first edition to second, given time, greater experience, and feedback from my editor…
• October 4, 2023

  A story of three families

  One of my favorite ways to think about my Herezoth trilogy is as the story of three families. You are introduced to each of these families in book one, largely through a pair of siblings (Kora and Zac, Menikas and Lanokas, Zalski Forzythe’s family). Sibling relationships, for some reason, are very influential and important in…
• October 3, 2023

  My toxic writer trait: my vocabulary

  My toxic writer trait is my vocabulary, and possibly not in the sense you think. It’s rather expansive. This isn’t good or bad, it’s just a result of my particular interests and background. I’ve always been a VORACIOUS reader, I have a particular affinity for the 16-19th centuries, I have studied multiple languages in grad…
• October 2, 2023

  What I love best about beta readers

  

  There are tons of reasons as an author to appreciate your beta readers. Here are some of the most important things my beta readers have contributed. Beta readers are wonderful! Have you ever been a beta reader?
• September 30, 2023

  Book Two Update: “The Magic Council: The Fight for Home”

  “The Magic Council: The Fight for Home” is back from my beta reader, and I could not be more excited. I had beta readers for the first edition years ago, but I figured some fresh eyes after my changes, before sending to my editor, would be useful. And boy, were they! I got great comments…
• September 26, 2023

  Ten tips for when you travel to Herezoth

  Because The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope is FREE on Kindle today (download here!) And there you have it! FUN TRAVELS!!! Don’t forget to invite others along for the ride as well. Tickets are FREE through Wednesday 🙂
• September 23, 2023

  Moving a scene in my prequel made all the difference

  

  As I write this, I had a great day improving the draft I have a prequel to the Herezoth trilogy. It’s a redemption story. I love it so much! I think I love it as much as any of my other stories. It’s the first novel I’ve written since The Crimson League: The Fight for…
• September 13, 2023

  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…
• September 12, 2023

  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…