Want to learn how to drive me up the wall? Insist that every time two characters make out, that the novel has a romance. Argh. Here in publishing, romance is a very specific genre that basically means the plot revolves around the characters being or falling in love with each other. There must be an… Continue reading Actually, People Can Screw Without Romance
Back in university, my friends and I decided to put together an online role-playing group, because we were that type of nerd. It would be steampunk-themed, some sort of supernatural detective agency. I forget the rest of the details anymore, but it seemed like a fun idea. Everyone else was creating doppelgangers of themselves, but I… Continue reading I Am Not My Characters
In a post late this November, I mentioned how I was finished writing my Saint Flaherty series. That’s my psychological suspense literary novels, for those who don’t know, and at the time of that post, I’d just written the final words of the third and final book. Not only that, I mentioned how I was done with… Continue reading The Process of Writing: It’s Kind of Addictive
When was the last time you saw real fear on someone’s face? How about pain? Shock? Rage-fueled fury? I’m not talking movies here, either, no, I mean real people displaying real emotions. When is the last time you saw something utterly raw? I see it plenty. See, I’m an MMA fan. MMA stands for mixed… Continue reading Blood Sports For the Gentle Soul
As you all know, I recently finished writing a series of novels. In this case, it was a trilogy, and one connected novelette. It’s been a bit of a strange ride, but finding myself at the end of the creating part is a new experience. These books are in the range of 100k words each,… Continue reading Finishing a Book Series: A Few Thoughts
I have a novel in my figurative drawer. It’s middle grade–that’s ages 7-13ish for those of you just tuning in–with an action/adventure plot. It sounds a bit dystopian, but is actually based on a historical place, with a bit of drama and culture-boggling to keep things running. I finished writing it last January, and the… Continue reading Schrodinger’s Novel–Do You Have One Too?
Every once in a while, my morbid sense of humor bites me in the bum. Despite the goat blood jokes, the references to those drugs that turn up every once in a while in real life to turn people in zombies who eat people’s faces, the presence in my manuscript of some seriously nasty stab wounds,… Continue reading Morbid Humor and the Sensitive Soul
I don’t really follow politics, I don’t watch the news, I don’t read the papers, because whenever I do, I become hopelessly enraged at all the things I cannot change. Mostly I stick to small local stuff that I can actually have a hand in. But the events of the day trickle in anyway via articles… Continue reading Thug and Other Words That Have Lost Their Political Correctness
Under-Paid, Over-Enthused 