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Restart the engine
People managed to run fulfilled and productive lives before the invention of the keyboard, so it had to be possible I could happily exist without a blog. Apparently, it’s not. I’d only been several...
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Wanted: Purpose and Direction
The proverbial ‘They’ say that honesty’s the best policy. Whoever ‘They’ are, I doubt they work in business marketing. Because, after all, it would be damaging to business if the customers knew...
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Once upon another failure
I need to take a moment here to be incredibly whiney and self-absorbed, to the incredulity of many, I’m sure. For those silver-lining/look-at-the-bright-side folks, let me save you the trouble of...
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Elements of Eloquence
I’d never enjoyed being insulted until I met Mark Forsyth, and then I couldn’t help myself. I use the term ‘met’ somewhat loosely. I was reading one of his books while on the other side of the world....
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Book Buffet of Literary Flavours
In the last couple of weeks I’ve tasted some diverse literary flavours. Not all of them I cared for. But trying a variety made me feel good about trying a food (or book) before deciding I didn’t like...
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Breaking Up with Writer’s Block
The Writing Prompt Boot Camp — by Brian A Klems & Zachary Petit Day #1: Breaking Up With Writer’s Block It’s time for you and Writer’s Block to part ways. Write a letter breaking up with Writer’s...
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‘Shakespeare Saved My Life’
So claims English professor Dr Laura Bates in her like-titled novel, which is the Big Library Read until the end of this month. Fortunately, I haven’t suffered complete inoculation against Shakespeare...
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Learning ALL the things!
The only way to make someone want something is to take it away. Generally speaking, people are horrible value assessors. When I was in school, I hated it. I suspect that’s normal. But now that I find...
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Soft and Easily Flattened
If I were a food I’d be a marshmallow. I’m soft and easily flattened. (Also white and spongy around the middle, but that’s neither here nor there.) Today I gave a small wave of thanks to a lollipop...
View ArticleThe greater misfortune—apathy or incompetence?
Which is worse: to love writing stories but be atrocious at it, or to have the skills of a literary Rumpelstiltskin but no drive to do anything with it? I narrate in my head all day. Sometimes I tell...
View ArticleNeeding to Write but Nothing to Say
I find myself with the unfortunate affliction of needing to write but having nothing to say. I love the feeling of the words unfolding in front of me. Of the keys clicking rapid-fire under my fingers....
View ArticleAlex Kava and other Addictive Substances
It’s immensely satisfying to discover a novelist who’s work is so enjoyable, so engaging, one delights to gorge on it in any free moment available. Particularly at the end of a long preschooler-filled...
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Oh, to be a Ghostwriter…
There’s something exciting in the secretive sound that a ghostwriter makes, when he’s ghosting around. A bookshelf he haunts, with no obvious trace— inaudible voice, incorporeal face. You want...
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Sex Scenes: The greatest betrayer of author gender
Outside of the Romance genre, the publishing industry is kinder to male authors. That’s just objective and observable fact. Author Catherine Nichols even did an experiment to demonstrate it—she took...
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Multipotentialism: the art of being lured in all directions until you explode...
The proverbial ‘they’ say that the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging you have one. I don’t even know if I’ve made that first step, because I can’t decide whether this thing is a problem...
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How to make a Writers Group an unhelpful waste of time (in one easy step)
My need to write creative fiction overtakes my ability to invent it, so there’s usually been a blog or a typed diary on the go, so I can write creative non-fiction instead. It’s more for catharsis...
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The Stranger in the Mirror
When I saw my face falling off in the mirror, it was inevitable that I would turn it into a story. How can I not write something inspired by that? It was alarming! It was shifting even as I watched...
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My Not-New-Year’s Resolution: Write a Novel
Conversations with preschoolers can be hilarious. Perhaps it’s because after you reach a certain age, the simplistic becomes the ridiculous. But whether by naivety or wit, Timmy put a great spin on an...
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What is Christian Fiction?
Every public library I know of has a designation of ‘Christian Fiction’ among their genre sets. Yet ‘Christian Fiction’ seems to be a collection of characteristics that are vague and varying. And a...
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Book Review: Lexicon by Max Barry
A thrilling novel has to have the right balance of plausibility. If it tips too far in either direction, the thrill is replaced with either revulsion or ridicule. Too much plausibility, and it becomes...
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