The Ohioana Book Festival this weekend was my first big book event. I had previously attended smaller, local versions for just Cleveland authors at Loganberry Books and the Bay Village Library, and so I thought I knew what I was Read more
A lot of books and blog posts I’ve read to understand plot and story structure talk about the Three Act Structure, and the thing is, the more I read … the more I’m convinced they don’t know what they mean. Read more
Most of us drop right into the setting of a writing workshop and we’re handed some sheets of someone else’s precious, undying prose, and set to work with no more guideline than “Tell us how you feel about this story.” Read more
The first home I remember was the East 200th Street projects, in Euclid, Ohio. Before that, we lived in a brick apartment building which my older sister pointed out to me once, and said was much nicer. Our apartment had Read more
Ji:Could you introduce ‘We Built This City’，which was nominated for the Nebula Award? Marie:I was raised by a single father, a construction worker, a laborer in the AFL-CIO. The very first short story I ever wrote, aside from school assignments and the Read more
This blog topic was suggested by Maura Yzmore. Specifically, she asked what I felt the pros and cons were of publishing everything under my real name, if I felt it interfered with my professional life? Pro: My Day Job is Read more
A common critique I got on my stories when I was starting out was, “You bring up this issue, but you don’t say anything about it.” Unlike “too slow” or “too fast” this critique didn’t present an obvious answer. I Read more