When I first started listening to podcasts there were two that I always downloaded: The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy and I Should Be Writing. The Survival Guide with Tee Morris is no longer being produced, but I Should Be Writing with Mur Lafferty most definitely is and I still listen to and enjoy it. That is what makes this episode special for me. I got to talk to Mur about writing and her John W. Campbell nomination. I also got to talk with Paul E. Cooley again. The last time we got together, I had a blast talking about a lot of different things. Paul talked a little bit about a new software application he has developed called MyWrite. […]
Read moreCategory: Irreverent Muse
The Next Book
I have come face-to-face with something I had always hoped for but wasn’t sure would ever happen. That is, writing the next book in a series. Now, before I start sounding all new and everything, the truth is, I have written the first three books of the Mik Murdoch series. Even still, I wasn’t sure what the future of said books would ever be. In fact, I know books two and three are pretty rough so I have to do some serious rewrites. What is different, is there is now a need for those books. I actually have to take the time to ensure they are as good as they can be so they are publishable. That is the difference. […]
Read moreGuest Post – Books that Inspired – Immortality through Writing – by Valerie Griswold-Ford
There were always books in my house. My parents are both voracious readers, and they imparted that love of words and stories on to their children. I can remember, when I was still very young, listening to my mother read us The Jungle Book and Bambi (the original novels, not the Disney versions), as well as Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, among others. The idea of being able to write and influence the world, even after death, was an amazing idea to me. The fact that I could tell a story and, hundreds of years in the future, someone else could read that same story was, to me, the true proof of immortality. The books that truly fired my urge to write, though, was the Dragonriders […]
Read moreKnowing Your Audience
I thought I would talk about audience today. Specifically, knowing who you are writing for and how you can ensure that you’re hitting the mark. I’ve been shown the value of understanding who might want to read my stories several times. When I sent in Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero originally, I kind of knew who I expected my eventual readership to be: boys, ages 9 – 15. Simple enough, right? After all, the book is about a boy in that age category who wants to be a superhero. I expected some girls might like it and the occasional adult too. Then my editor, Robert Runte, and I had the chance to meet last Fall. He told me that when he […]
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