For anyone who hasn’t reached the point where writing full time is a lifestyle they can embrace, carving out time and space in which to write can be challenging.  This […]

So, a few weeks ago at Connooga, I got to talk about structure and outlining for novels, which is a thing I love talking about.  Now, I’m a big believer […]

I’m a big believer in exercises to keep writing skills fresh, so a bit of flash fiction using six assigned words is a nice break from the usual. — Smell […]

So, now The Thorn of Dentonhill has been out just a bit over a month, and there are a fair amount of reviews out there.  On the whole, I’ve been […]

Stories need to be driven by choices and consequences.  The consequences are the external stuff, but choices are internal. And nothing kills a story’s investment like a lack of choices. […]

So, the nomination period for the Hugos and the Campbell is just about closed.  If you are eligible to nominate, you’re probably wondering who amongst those eligible for the Campbell, […]

Outer conflict is easy, especially when you’re writing a character whose go-to solution to problems is “punch in the face”.  Of course, “punch in the face” is rarely an effective […]

So, this weekend I’ll be appearing at Connooga, and hopefully weather conditions won’t trap me there for an extra day or two.  (I really don’t consider that very likely.)  If […]

Last week I talked about villains being the heroes of their own story.  But even in those cases, they do tend to still be the “bad guy” in an objective […]

So, Boskone was a lovely experience.  All my panels were exactly the kind of panels you want to have: everyone is engaged in the subject, talking to each other, listening […]