It’s finals time here at library school. I have one giant final project due Monday and another giant final project due after that, but all I want to do is write write write. I rarely want to write when I actually have the time to do it, but for the past week (during which time I was also working on a third final project, completed on Wednesday) I ( Read more... )

The world is full of writing advice. There are probably hundreds of books on the topic and innumerable websites and blog posts full of rules, tips, tricks, and hints. Some of these are helpful. Some of them are not. Whether they are helpful or not doesn’t really have much, if anything, to do with the actual content of the advice. It’s all about the ( Read more... )

Last night I had what I believe was my first library work-related dream. I dreamed I volunteered on a school field trip to a science museum, and I saw a 9-year-old boy carrying a book and started talking to him about it. He liked the book, but it was really depressing and was making him sad (I think it may have been a non-fiction book about slavery ( Read more... )

24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
I am perfectly willing to kill my characters for the sake of my story. It helps that I write short stories-you don’t tend to get too terribly attached to the idea of your characters having long and fulfilling lives if the ( Read more... )

22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
I don’t think I have scenes I’ve never written. Or if I do, they don’t live in my brain anymore, because if they were worth holding onto I would have written them already.

23. How long does it usually take you to complete an ( Read more... )

Before I continue the never-ending meme, allow me to direct you to a post I wrote for the Alpha blog last week: “Submitting Stories for Publication as a Young Adult”. Most of the advice in the article applies to all writers just starting to think about sending things out, not just teens.

And now, three questions answered in one post! Whoo!

19. ( Read more... )

This is the meme that never ends! My goodness. But I will forge on.

17. Favorite protagonist and why!
Assuming that the question is referring to my own protagonists, I’m going to have to go with the protagonist of my (unpublished) short story “Aeroplasty.” He’s actually probably one of the protagonists I’d least like to have as a friend, but he was ( Read more... )

Before I launch into the next question, I just realized that I forgot to mention that last week I wrote an article for the Alpha SF/F/H Workshop blog on finding good critiques. If you’re a new and/or young writer, definitely check it out, along with all the other marvelous and helpful posts from Alpha alumni and instructors. My post is here.

16. Do ( Read more... )

First, thanks to everyone who offered hugs and condolences about Coo. I appreciate them all, even if I didn’t respond to them directly. I’m feeling okay about it. It helps that I live away from home, so I’m not always being reminded of her absence in the house. She’ll be missed, but I’m glad she’s not in pain anymore.

Now, moving on to the actual ( Read more... )

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