Spoiler-free: I’ve watched the first two episodes of Westworld, and like many of you, I watched in fear and trepidation, because we have seen this show. Remember Dollhouse? I was imagining Dollhouse done by HBO, and I admit I had my hands over my eyes the first time through, hoping they didn’t fuck this up. […]
Westworld: Who We Are When the Lights Go Out Read More »
Plot kicks my ass. It kicks my ass up one end of a story and down another, because honestly, all my characters want to do is snark at each other over tea. Or whisky. Or coffee. Or bug juice. Whatever. Any excuse for them to sit around flinging zingers at each other and discussing what
The Madhatter Teaparty: Rescuing Your Characters from Endless Cups of Tea Read More »
This, from Merrit Tierce, has been making the rounds: I Published My Debut Novel to Critical Acclaim—and Then I Promptly Went Broke My first thought: yeah, well, welcome to the club. Ha ha, just kidding: I kept my day job. I kept my day job – I keep my day job – even though some
I Published My Debut Novel to Critical Acclaim—and Then I Promptly Went Broke Read More »
I’ve cancelled the rest of my appearances for this year, which I know surprised and worried a lot of people, but frankly, there is a lot of writerly-shit on deck right now, and I keep falling further and further behind. You have to know when to cut off promo and shift into writing hermit mode,
Going Dark ’til January 9th to Prep for EPIC 2017 Read More »
Being a writer is a weird thing. I guess any time you live publicly, it’s like living in an abusive relationship. You’ve got a bunch of people publicly and simultaneously declaring that you are the most talented and humane person in the world… and also the biggest jerk hack that ever lived. This is one
Why Being a Writer is an Exercise in Cognitive Dissonance Read More »
At various conventions, I’ve had new(er) authors come up to my signing table or come up to me after a panel and basically just give me their cards. I’ve also had authors hand me their books or, in the case of a couple of very smart new authors, ask if they can swap one of
Do Authors Check Out Those Business Cards New Writers Give Them at Cons? Read More »
Over the last month or so I’ve become one of those writers with a Secret Project (I know – I hate those people too) on top of The Broken Heavens manuscript due at the end of the year, on top of The Stars Are Legion copyedits due the end of the month, on top of
The Author as a Busy, Busy Bee and Other Bee-Filled Nightmares Read More »
The last month or so has been a non-stop glut of nonfiction reading. My creative bucket has been a little low of late, which signaled to me that it was time to get back to work. I’ve also been spending less time on Twitter, which has indeed helped me up my reading time. Reading is,
What I’ve Been Reading: The Nonfiction Edition Read More »
One of the drawbacks to our “always on” culture is this expectation that if we see something, we have to respond to it. “Sea lions” take advantage of this knee jerk reaction we have to engage with people who ask us questions on the internet. They can get you to waste hours going around in
You Don’t Owe Anyone Your Time Read More »
Writing three books last year was an exercise in grind. While there may be many people happy to write 4, 6, 12 books a year, I am not one of them. A big part of my process is the research involved in worldbuilding and the deft untangling of what makes character relationships compelling, and that
The Wisdom of the Grind: It’s Always Darkest Before a Breakthrough Read More »