Pretzels and Möbius Strips: On the Question of Plot Twists
When I was in junior high, I read Asimov’s “Foundation Trilogy.” I absolutely loved it. I re-read it multiple times throughout the years,...
Bending an Ear: When to Listen to Writing Advice
Beta readers, workshopping, editors, agents, publishers – so much advice for your work, and so much of it contradictory! One says your...
Reassembled: Dr. Frankenstein Just Called
It was the middle of 2019. I had a major event in September, and I’d been really hoping to finish my book and get it out in print by...
The End of the Word
There are so many things people want out of a book or story, but one of the most crucial is a satisfying ending. Without that, everything...
Worldbuilding: Consumed by Cartography
I was talking with a friend who wants to do some writing, and he said to me, “I can’t start writing until I figure out all of the...
Letting Your Book Baby Grow Up
I was revisiting an author’s meltdown from a few years ago, and honestly trying to figure out why someone would put a book out into the...
Research: The Search for Squoozhfen
“How do you know so much about sailing ships?” the editor asked me. I stared at them in confusion. “I looked up 17th century merchant...
Agency: What Does It Do?
"Agency" – it’s is a very popular buzzword these days. Sexual agency, personal agency, the agency of minority groups– it gets thrown...
Where Are the Men?
I was raised on Celtic folk music -- my mother is 1/4 Welsh, and though her Scottish (and Scotch-Irish) ancestry is a bit further back,...
No One Knows What It’s Like to Be the Bad Man
Antagonists or straight-out villains can be a real problem to write. Even authors I love often have difficulty with fleshing out...
