Random Musings

Category: writing

  • Pondering the Wandering 

    I started reading Anne Mcaffrey’s The Dragonriders of Pern series when I was in junior high. It was my gateway drug into fantasy and sci-fi.  It was also the vague start of my love of mythology, which has only grown with the decades. So, when we booked a trip to…

  • Carving out word time

    ​ I recently signed a contract for the third book in the Afterlife, Inc series.  Obviously, this is exciting stuff. Book one comes out in March, book two in September. Which means book three probably won’t come out until March or so of 2018. (Publishing is a long process!) Book…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Seven–Action/Reaction

    Does your grocery or to-do list make you emotional? Well…scratch that, it might. But would it make a random person emotional? Would they know more about you than the fact that you like yogurt, need eggs, and that you need to stop by the chemist?  Maybe. But the fact is,…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day One–Dialogue Tags

    So, it’s nearly midnight here in the UK, and we’ve just sent off an anthology to the printer. But I swore I’d follow through on the writing tips blogs, so let’s jump in:  Tip 1 is about dialogue tags.  “I don’t know,” said Sue wistfully. “Why don’t you know,” asked…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Two–Point of View 

    Let’s discuss point of view, shall we?  Question: Are you a plot driven writer, or a character driven writer?  Are you more interested in the espionage, or the character’s personal journey to deal with it?  Yes, you need to have both a plot and characters. They need to blend together…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Three–Genre

    What do you like to read? (You do read, right?) Is that what you’re writing?  There are various elements at play here. And they matter.  Writing is about passion. When you write what you like to read, you’ll be more interested in what you’re writing, and that passion will transfer…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Four–Contractions

    I did not go to the store. I will not go to the shore. I do not play the flute. I should not go down the Shute.  I love The Lorax. It’s probably my favourite animated film, and of course the original Dr Suess book is one of a kind. …

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Six–Arcs

    Sue is happy. She meets Jane. She’s even happier. Things are great. When they hit a bump, she stays happy and they pull through. They grow old together, happily.  Flat. Line.  In the last post I wrote about conflict. You can’t have an interesting story without it. Along those lines,…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips: Day Five–Conflict 

    Yesterday, I went to the store. Then, I went to work. I got home as usual, ate dinner, and went to bed.  Are you bored yet?  I am. And there’s a reason for that.  It’s called conflict. Or rather, a serious lack thereof.  Think about it; when you tell someone…

  • 12 Days of Writing Tips

    Hello again.  Life is a time thief, isn’t it? It rips it away like a fancy tablecloth, leaving just the used dishes on the bare tabletop.  I started this blog to talk about writing and words, and I seem to have derailed from that slightly. So I’m going to make…