Blog topic suggested by Zac Crofford. This isn’t entirely a rant. An anti-rant? This is a happy rant. I frickin’ love fonts, and I love when I open a book and the typeface is pleasing to my eyes. Unlike many of my colleagues, I am not pained by the existence Read more
That endings should be “surprising yet inevitable” has been often quoted writing advice (some attribute it to Flannery O’Connor, but I cannot verify that.) My friend and fellow science fiction writer Charles Oberndorf – a more accessible source – said to me in workshop once, “the ending of a literary story Read more
My mom always had a garden. Her mom always had a garden before her, and for a time they were one in the same, as we lived with my grandparents. I have fond memories of snapping peas with grandma on the back stoop in the slanting light of an August Read more
blog topic suggested by Nyla Bright. “Everyone says the writing in romance novels is bad but in my experience it’s no worse than a lot of genre fiction. The people it bothers the most are those not engaged— Or better yet, what not liking most romance novels has taught you Read more
So there I was, in the middle of teaching a class on selling short stories, and on my “post sale” slide I included “announce sale on social media after contract is signed” and “post again when the story is live, with links to view or buy.” A student raised her Read more
Now mark ye what I say. Silks I have myself; see ye that men do bring us jewels upon their shields and thus we’ll work the clothes. – Das Nibelungenlied This is a story that starts in 2010. I was at the Pennsic War – a two-week medieval recreation (SCA) Read more
*cracks knuckles* Challenge accepted, Carlos Arturo Serrano. Short answer: Yes. Wait wait, put down the pitchforks! You know I started out answering this, “No.” Back in the 1980s, flipping through my pack of Star Wars Bubblegum cards, hoping to find a Leia, one of my fellow-urchins would scratch her ankle Read more