Review: Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera series
Can I write about the Codex Alera series and keep it out of the shadow of Jim Butcher’s signature Dresden Files books? It ought to be possible… but I’m not going to try. (One caveat: Furies of Calderon...
View ArticleStory – Find More and Dig Deeper
What makes a good story? But that’s a question anyone would answer differently… so it might be clearer written the other way around: what story counts as good, at least for a thrillseeking,...
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Sources of Magic – Part One
Where does magic come from? It’s something I’ve noticed in more and more stories: some go further than others in explaining just how someone’s supernatural power is, well, powered. I don’t mean the...
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A little Summer Reading
CONFESSIONS of SYLVA SLASHER by Ace Antonio Hall SPRING BREAK GETS WILD ON THE LIVELIEST CRUISE IN THE PACIFIC UNTIL THE UNDEAD CRASH THE PARTY. Eighteen-year-old Sylva Fleischer and her friends raise...
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Sources of Magic – Part Two
If you know where something comes from, it gives you a head start on guessing where it’s going, doesn’t it? So when you’re reading or writing a fantasy tale, understanding just where that set of...
View ArticleSecrets of Suspense – Shadowed’s “Birdseed Scene”
“When your psychic senses are fading and the gangster’s lair has the perfect defenses, how do you break in with birdseed and a rock?” That’s my Twitter profile, and I’ve always liked how it challenges...
View ArticleWhispered Secrets and Recorded Magic
It can be a first step to telling a story that shows more than the obvious, and one I always look for on a page—and kick myself if one of my own scenes neglects it. It’s the mark of atmosphere, of...
View ArticleWhen The High Road started on a Tower – a Deleted Opening Scene
Can an opening scene be too… distinctive? There’s a line writers love to quote, that when a piece of writing doesn’t work we need to “kill our darlings.” (Or “murder” them; either way there needs to be...
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No blog this week
I won’t be writing anything this week, while I deal with a family emergency. For everyone who’s given me their support on this, thank you. Your thoughts mean a lot. Photo by Jo Naylor The post No blog...
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You Only Get One First Time – First Book equals Best Book?
Is the first book of a series the best book, or is it something else that that book has going? It’s a question that’s been on my mind a lot, now that I’m nearing the end of the (looong) path to...
View ArticleFinishing a book – thoughts
How does it feel to have a book completed, finally? A bit déjà vu, for one thing. A couple of springs ago I set down the last words “harder than the gate’s steel” and realized that was the last chapter...
View ArticleThe High Road release – November 12th
“Don’t look down. Look up.” In four weeks, on November 12th, you’ll be able to do just that. The High Road will be releasing on Amazon, Nook, iBooks, and… well, everywhere. The High Road may have...
View ArticleCharacter Interview with Angie Dennard (THE HIGH ROAD)
To celebrate the release of The High Road next week, here’s a character interview with its heroine. For its companion piece (also set around Chapter 4), see the Mark Petrie interview. (Angie Dennard...
View ArticleAction Stories, to Scale – Lessons from Netflix’s Daredevil
Devil may, devil may, devil may care How many devils does Daredevil dare? I’ve finally started watching the Netflix Daredevil series. For general storytelling fun, and especially for its action, it...
View ArticleDarth Vader Missed It and Dracula Never Tried – Character Plot Twists that...
What single choice could make a story? Sure, we writers have dozens of strengths we might weave into a tale, but could there be one clear decision that pushes it to a whole other level? It’s been on my...
View ArticleThe High Road’s Book Trailer
I love book trailers… but I hate videos, or at least how easily they can end up padding themselves out without a real reason for the extra minutes. So that puts me in a fun place now that the time’s...
View ArticleWriting a Character Arc – Through Other Characters
If the heart of a story is the conflicts it puts a character through, and especially the choices he has to make… could there be a pattern underlying that to guide a plot into deeper insights and keep...
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Babylon 5’s One Key to Character Arcs
One way. There just might be one irresistible way to track and reveal how a character evolves—and make the most of how that arc drives the whole story. In my last post, I said the key I found was...
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Loose Cannons can Lose Your Canon – WHEN Should You Shake Up Your Characters?
Why would a story that rips forward at light-speed pace take a whole first season for what seemed like ordinary short-term TV conflicts? When Babylon 5 does just that (with so much excitement to come),...
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The Long-Running Series – Two of Four “Easy” Lessons from Role-Playing Games
(Reality check: This is written in the aftermath of the Great Los Angeles Rainstorm—and yes, this week that’s reality. All part of preparing to venture forth on the waterlogged streets to speak at...
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