by admin | Oct 31, 2018 | Books, S/F, Writing
It’s a trope we all know. It’s been used by some of the most beloved authors in some of the best known works, the foundational works of fantasy and science fiction. But I don’t like it. OK, anything can work if it’s done reeeaaaally well. But if you want to pull off a...
by admin | Jul 18, 2018 | Books, Writing
This is an important question, both for writers and for readers. The anti hero has gain prominence lately, and there are a lot of reasons for that. But it’s less a question of “should my protagonist be flawed?” and more a question of “how flawed should my protagonist...
by admin | Jun 9, 2018 | mental health, Writing
Anthony Bourdain’s death hit me hard. He was an inspiration to me, through his writing and his television shows, making an impression on both my writing and my outlook on life. As a writer, I have to say his prose connected with me on many levels. His style was...
by admin | Jun 3, 2018 | Books, Writing
Saw the new Deadpool movie recently. Loved it. Recently, I read a discussion about it, and one of the points brought up was the use of tropes and cliches, and was it enough to be self aware and hang a lampshade on the trope, or if it still counted as lazy...
by admin | May 3, 2018 | History, war, Writing
We constantly hear that we should write what we know. But there are plenty of things we don’t really know, but we write about anyway, like casting spells or space flight or fighting dragons. Now I’ve written before about ways to tap into your own experiences to add a...
by admin | Apr 4, 2018 | Books, e-books, Writing
Every book began with a first draft. And they were all flawed, riddled with typos, plot holes, cliches, and bad ideas. Even the greats. Even your favorites. Every once in a while you can find early drafts of big, important books, and they are almost always...
