I read a lot in December, too much of it forgettable. I read a Christmas novel by one of my favorite romance authors, a reissue that I had missed, and was pretty disturbed by the behavior of the male protagonist. I read two other novels that just didn’t thrill me, and a lot of short […]
Continue ReadingLast week, I got taken to task all over writer communities on the internet (and probably in writers’ group meetings as well) for telling writers with only one or two books out not to worry about promotion. The response I got in the comments to last week’s blog were mild compared to the vitriol my […]
Continue ReadingAs many of you already know, I write out of order. It is, perhaps, the most irritating part of my own writing process—at least to me. Fortunately, this new world of publishing really works for someone like me. Everything I write is not set in stone. I can move the pieces around when I’m done. […]
Continue ReadingI hit upon a theme in my reading this month, and it wasn’t deliberate. I realized that I love writers who challenge themselves. They reach for something that might just be out of their grasp. Sometimes they hit, and sometimes they miss. Mostly, I don’t recommend the misses. I sometimes bitch about them in this […]
Continue ReadingDecember’s usually a slow publishing month, but not this year. If you want to read some great new fiction this December, look no farther. First, the latest Fiction River volume, Hex In The City, appeared just today. Put together by acclaimed editor Kerrie L. Hughes, Hex In The City features stories by award-winning authors Jay Lake and Lee […]
Continue ReadingI taught a week-long science fiction craft workshop in October, and read lots of excellent stories. I’ll mention them when they show up in print and you can find them. I’ll be amazed if editors don’t snatch these stories up. I know that Lee Allred took some for the second Fiction River special that he’s […]
Continue ReadingThe beginning of November marks the start of the holiday season here in the United States. Right after Halloween, retailers pretend that they’re helping everyone decide what to buy for Thanksgiving meals, but in reality, they’re trying to get customers into the stores for the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. For writers, November 1 […]
Continue ReadingI am completely overwhelmed. Not because I just finished teaching a week-long workshop. Not because one of my novels decided to become triplets. Not because it’s about to become November. Because I have too much to read. Seriously. I preorder a lot of books, and pick up the rest from my favorite local bookseller. One […]
Continue ReadingAt least one per week, I get e-mails from writers who ask me if they need a pen name. The question used to be really easy to answer. If you wrote in multiple genres at the same time, you needed a pen name. Now, the answer—like the answer to everything else in publishing— is it […]
Continue ReadingI’ve now read two books in a row in which our female protagonist wanders into a graveyard in the middle of the night in the pouring rain despite no-trespassing signs, forgets her phone (or leaves it charging) in the car, and gets attacked by the bad guy, all the while worrying about ruining her very […]
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