Year of Unceasing fruitfulness. Jeremiah 17:5-8. There will be heat in the world (economy, business). The blessed person will go through heat but when they go through it, they hardly see it. I’m adding this too much later to remember much of 2012, it’s literally a decade behind me. It was the second year in […]
That’s a totally generic subject and I may revise it someday. But I’m reposting an excerpt of an interview with Melina Marchetta because what she says about heroines and romance is so true and, I think, so important to remember as both writers and readers. This next question is something that will probably always make […]
I seriously dislike the term Mary Sue. I used to despise it quite fiercely but writing this post siphoned most of that venom. I’m still bothered when I see that term used in a review or blog post. I always want to link back to this post with a comment that I don’t think they […]
The last Twilight movie is almost upon us and so my sister and I had a marathon this past weekend to prepare. For some reason just before we started Breaking Dawn part 1 we were talking about vampires or something and I commented that our current societal concept of vampires is from Joss Whedon. That […]
Plots are the most difficult part of the story for me. I can do character and dialog all day just for fun but plots require work and miracles of intuition and, well they’re just hard. So what do I do about it? I read, a lot. I read books by brilliant authors and I read […]
I’ve been running intervals ever since a dear friend introduced me to them. It’s incredibly simple: walk 2min/run 30sec for 10 intervals. Then, as you progress, increase your intensity until you walk 30sec/run 30sec. I never liked running before because it’s so hard and I always felt so tired and weak by the end of […]
So, two stories now, that originated as Twilight fan fiction, have become actual books. With names changed and seven figure deals. The whole idea of it raises, I think, problematic and interesting questions. Obviously, at some level, all works of fiction play on central, common themes. Authors retell fairy tales and ancient mythology and rework […]
You may or may not have heard that NPR is compiling a list of the Best Teen Novels Ever. In principle I think it’s a fun idea. Though the title, and therefore the premise, is a bit pompous. Best Teen Novels *Ever*? Really? I don’t know that you, or anyone, has the right to claim […]
I admit, I’d never been to New York before. Which wouldn’t be much of an admission if I didn’t also add that I was never really interested in ever going. Something about it always seemed far too east coast and foreign in my mind and I would have been perfectly happy never to experience that […]
I’m not a huge fan of modern history. I like Victorian London and medieval Europe in my fiction. With true history I’m more interested in the sociology and mythology of ancient cultures (particularly Greece and Rome). But that is probably in part because they have the best stories. So when I got the offer to […]