Happy New Year to me with a new story out at Uncanny Magazine, A House Full of Voices is Never Empty. I’m so thrilled about this because Uncanny has been a dream market since, well, pretty much since they launched their very first Kickstarter! There’s…
There’s no denying that 2020 has been… rough. I don’t know about you, but it’s been really hard to write, really hard to focus, really hard to feel motivated, engaged, inspired, and positive. Some days I felt like, “What is even the point of all…
In the last two weeks of my time at Clarion, we were lucky enough to be taught by Charlie Finlay and Rae Carson, who were extraordinary teachers and also supremely empathetic human beings (in my mind, those two go hand in hand.) We were able…
It’s been a real roller coaster this week, but I’m so excited to ring in a new Monday with a new president-elect and a new story, in the Nov 9th Issue of Strange Horizons! It is also available on Apple Podcasts. This story came out…
You got this, friend. You’ve been getting ready for thirty days. You have inspiration, you have a core idea, you have characters, you have the beginning part outlined. You’re ready. Today, you rest. Anticipate the excitement of next month. You’re going to be all right.…
Today is about finding your comps! Comps (short for “competitive titles” or “comparison titles”) are often used in query letter or pitches to tell an agent or publisher where your book would go on the shelf. Is it next to Nora Roberts or Stephen King?…
Good morning! Today we’re going to talk about finding a support squad, or at least one cheerleader. We talked earlier about finding a community. This is related, but it’s a little more personal. Think of someone, or a couple of people, in your life who…
We’re very close to the start of Nano now, and it’s exciting! Today I’m going to examine my distractions. Most of us have habits that can get in the way of writing focus and creative time. For me, it’s Twitter, Discord, Slack, and video games. …
Good morning, writers! Today we’re going back into brainstorming mode to think about what other characters might populate your story. I like to do this exercise on paper, with a pencil or pen, because it’s going to be a map. The idea is to think…
It’s the last week before Nano. Tomorrow we’ll get to some writing craft and brainstorming again, but today I want to talk about getting your writers’ fuel ready. For me, meal planning takes up a lot of time, not just making it, but thinking about…