I realized yesterday that I hadn’t spoken about the craft of writing for a while when I ran up against something I learned while revising Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero. So, with that timely event, I thought it might prove interesting to talk about characters. Specifically about making your characters work for their victories. One of the mistakes I made when writing Mik Murdoch was I often made things too easy for him. I would throw a problem at him and, knowing how I wanted it to turn out, Mik would get to the resolution with little trouble or effort. I don’t know about you, but when I succeed at something, it is usually through a series of trial-and-error type events. My editor, […]
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I’m Trying Something New
I have found that the best way to be successful and productive is to do two things: Set SMART goals; and Challenge myself. The challenge myself portion is what I want to talk about today. You see, when I set the goal, I am in effect competing with myself. Those types of competitions are what really drive me to be productive. The problem is, unless I have some way to measure that productivity, I sometimes lose sight of my goals and things come to a screeching halt. That’s why I’m successful at NaNoWriMo. I have that status bar that I continually update so I know exactly where I am at any given time. When I was at Balticon, I heard […]
Read moreThe Flurry Before Departure
We’ve all heard the term “Perfect Storm”, right? Well, it feels like I am in the middle of one right now. This Friday, I am leaving for Balticon in Hunt Valley, Maryland. I still have to pack my bags, ensure I’ve got business cards and books AND get my itinerary completely locked down. All that and, right now, there are renovations happening at the house that I didn’t think were coming for a couple more weeks. Oh yeah, AND my mother is moving and I’ve got to get my podcast obligations taken care of and some writing done. Like I said, Perfect Storm (at least for me). So, I’m busier than I would like, trying to deal with everything. C’est […]
Read moreSupercalifragilisticexpealidocious
What do you say when you have nothing to say at all? Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious, of course! (for those of you unfamiliar with Mary Poppins, the Disney Classic, that is where the reference comes from). Honestly, with everything that has been going on lately, I’m having difficulty focusing on one thing long enough to get anything done. I’m sure you have all been through similar times in your life. So, let me just give you an update on what I’ve been up to on the writing and podcasting front, instead. The BIG news is, my co-editor Jeff Hite and I have put our anthology,A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evilto bed. We are expecting layout to be complete […]
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