So, I have a vegetable garden in my backyard. This is year two – last year we had potatoes, onions, spinach, and broccoli, and it was lovely. Everything was very good and we reaped a plentiful harvest. This year we
Handwriting for Fun and Profit
If you’re anything like me, Squiders, you mostly write by typing. Word processor, blank page, type type type. It’s faster, it tells you when you misspell a word (though not when you put the wrong word in), it’s easy to
Naming Your Characters Names You Wouldn’t Name Your Children
Is there such a thing as too many barbeques? I think there must be. I am barbequed out. Character naming is an interesting part of story creation. I know a lot of people who can’t write until they find the
Submission is Scary, but Everything Will Be Okay
Going along with writing fears and insecurity, we have submission. Oh, submission. Perhaps the scariest and most disheartening of all steps of the writing process. You’ve written a story, you’ve edited and polished, and finally you’re ready to let it
Doing a Story Justice
On a somewhat related note to Monday, here’s another author fear that I sometimes worry about myself – doing a story justice. You know how it goes: somehow, a story worms its way into your head, as stories are wont
Write Your Query First
So, generally people look at novel writing as a linear process: Step 1, write the novel. Step 2, edit the novel. Step 3, submit the novel. So you write the book, make it pretty, and then worry about how you’re
Are Writing Conferences Worth It?
It seems like a lot of people have been living somewhat vicariously through my writing conference experience. I am one of only a few of my writing friends who have ever been to one. That part’s not rocket science. Writing
Learning to Write
Over lunch this past weekend, my stepmother mentioned to me that she’d been talking to someone in college who had decided he wanted to be a writer and wanted some advice on becoming one. Well, there’s really only one way
The Return of the Sky Shark
All was quiet in the vale where Landsquid lived. For now, at least. You see, Landsquid’s neighbor and arch-nemesis, the Alpaca, would be over shortly. There was some sort of sports competition to be watched and, out of principle, they
PPWC and Genre Panels
I seem to be having a bit of an issue getting back into the swing of things post-conference. Brain overload, perhaps? Anyway, my apologies for this entry being so late. Hopefully everything returns to normal tomorrow. PPWC was a good
