I will be talking with a Lingo Lounge group about fiction writing at 3:00 on May 19th in Dahlonega. I previously talked about the Lingo Lounge here. The get-together starts with people reading/performing their stuff, which I always love. Stephanie asked me to read “Comfort Food,” so I’ll do that. It’s less than 1,000 words [...]
Go to post pageI have been writing over 3,000 words per day. I aim for 90,000 words in total, so that pace is great–especially since I am at 55,000 words already. I have been thinking about the places I get stuck and here is what I came up with. Dialogue in which I know what must be accomplished [...]
Go to post pageI put The Cornerstone of Night on hold for a semester while I did a textbook. I was a few chapters out in front of the Gang of Three, so I was able to keep sending stuff to critique. For the first time, I actually missed writing fiction. As the semester has wound down I [...]
Go to post pageSo I was in Hong Kong, teaching for five weeks, along with two other professors. Our wives were going to show up a week or so later and we were planning to all go out–the 3 couples. My friend raved about the YMCA in Kowloon (a ferry ride across the bay from the island). He [...]
Go to post pageAt the Writers of the Future workshop, Tim Powers, a world class author, said “I hear authors say, ‘My characters talk to me–and they do unexpected things.’ To which I say, ‘Perhaps you need to see a psychiatrist.’” I won’t diagnose any problems with you (at least until I am as successful as Tim Powers), [...]
Go to post pageI love Tolkien. I like The Hobbit. Nearly all modern fantasy literature owes more to Tolkien than folks will ever understand. But, in today’s market The Hobbit would be an indie publication. In the book, Bilbo is pretty passive until the stuff that will be in the second movie–Mirkwood and the wood elves. And what [...]
Go to post pageLibrivox is one of my favorite pasttimes. They take public domain books and make audiobooks from them. First of all, I like audiobooks. When the body is too busy to read, listening to an audiobook is an excellent diversion. Second, I like Librivox’s unusual selection. There are classics that you may not have read, such [...]
Go to post pageOur water was brown. We have seen it before, though not in this town–rust in the lines. As a kid, my family had a well so we did not have to put up with such stuff. But back then the pump occasionally needed priming so the entire family would “pull the pump,” lifting the pump [...]
Go to post pageThe Devil’s Bells grew on me by the time I submitted to Penumbra. The story made the first cut, then was rejected. I liked the Poe sensibilities–it’s supernatural! Or maybe it’s just imagination. Like in The Raven where the viewpoint character keeps saying, “It’s a freaking ordinary bird,” but keeps asking it disturbing questions about [...]
Go to post pageI made the decision to focus on The Cornerstone of Night and ignore short stories back in February. Then came the Lingo Lounge opening and I wanted something to read, so I wrote Pirate’s Alley, which only took two days to write. So, back to The Cornerstone of Night, right? Wrong. I saw that Penumbra [...]
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