So I've been toying with some ideas.

Going through the Writing the Short Story book by Jack M. Bickham has me basically writing a short story. Between my husband's script writing classes, and this, I have found some major similarities in the processes. At any rate, I decided weeks ago that I would write several shorts both to hone my plotting and ( Read more... )

 Writing the Short Story by Jack M. Bickham has proven... wow ( Read more... )

Unseen Academicals (Fantasy) - Terry Pratchett January:

1. The Lightning Thief (YA Fantasy)- Rick Riordan
2. Death Masks (Urban Fantasy) - Jim Butcher
3. Blood Rites (Urban Fantasy) - Jim Butcher
4. Cursor's Fury (Epic Fantasy) - Jim Butcher
5. Sea of Monsters (YA Fantasy) - Rick Riordan
6. Dead Beat (Urban Fantasy) - Jim Butcher
7. Captain's Fury (Epic ( Read more... )

 Bah, 30.

Anyway, I have a garden in my back yard, finally.

The sprinklers finally work proper, and James got me a raised planter bed that I turned into a vegetable garden. Now all the plants need to behave and grow.

I have strawberries, of course.

5 different kinds of tomatoes, and not one is a red tomato. There is the yellow pear (a cherry tomato), ( Read more... )

There is a certain amount of frustration, annoyance when you look back at something that has been a labor of love for more than a decade, and think, "What the hell is this crap ( Read more... )

 I recently finished "Setting" and "Writing & Selling Your Novel" by Jack M. Bickham. He was a writing professor and had 80 published books (fiction and non-fiction). I still need to read "Writing the Short Story" and "Scene and Sequel" and all of these books are going to end up in my personal library for future reference.

They are written much as ( Read more... )

A few weeks ago I said, with much chagrin, "Dang it. I have to read Twilight." It was not the happiest moment of my life, and I still haven't done it. But I came to an understanding with myself and the published novels of the world, good, bad, and mediocre. (For the record, I fall under unpublished-bad which is a whole different kettle of stinky ( Read more... )

I've read ( Read more... )

Seanan Mcguire, author of the October Daye series, shares 50 thoughts on writing, and expands each thought into its own individual post. Such as, "You'll suck when you start out," and "People are mean ( Read more... )

http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/Read more... )