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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The 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 moreTesting My Resolve
Life has a way of testing a person, sometimes continually. As I am typing this, I realize that the difficulties I have faced in my life are trivial to what others have faced and it feels a little bit like whining to me. Still, we all get used to a certain lifestyle. When we are removed from that lifestyle for something less, it is jarring. It is a test to see how we will react. Will we adapt to the new life, will we struggle and fight our way back to where we were (or beyond) or will we roll over and die. I would like to think that I will fight my way back up to former glories and […]
Read moreDiving Back into the Pool
I’ve spent the past few months working on editing A Method to the Madness: A Guide to the Super Evil. When I first considered putting an anthology out, I thought it would be an easy way to get another book out with my name on the cover. After all, I would only be writing one of the many stories for the anthology. How hard would it be? Yeah, every time I say something like that, I come to regret mouthing the words. Editing is not my natural state and it was a LOT of work. Just ask my co-editor, Jeffrey Hite. He will tell you. What ended up happening is, I spent lots of time editing and very little time […]
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