Cait Gordon, author & advocate

Cait Gordon's first book, Life in the 'Cosm, was meant as a way to survive chronic illness, but ended up a surprise hit. She's about to release a second edition, and a prequel, with Renaissance Press! With co-editor Talia C. Johnson and Nathan Fréchette from Renaissance, she recently built a Kickstarter for Nothing Without Us … Continue reading Cait Gordon, author & advocate

Language as Lesson

In this Book & Book, two classics with an ambassador to a new world, whether by choice or force, demonstrate the lessons of language and their bearing on interpersonal power dynamics. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin sees an ambassador on the faraway planet of Winter where he must navigate shifgrethor … Continue reading Language as Lesson

Justin Bloch, author

Justin Bloch's debut novel, The Stolen Karma of Nathaniel Valentine, is a powerhouse of plot twists and personal journeys. The settings are rich and varied, and the characters are all masterfully round and motivated. I caught up with Justin while he was hard at work on the sequel to ask him a few questions. PersephoneKnits: … Continue reading Justin Bloch, author

Denise D. Young, fantasy-romance author

PersephoneKnits has a mission statement of positivity and support toward creative outcomes and growth. That doesn't mean ignoring failures and challenges, but rather going into projects with our eyes and our hands wide open. Part of that is setting intention, and Denise models that beautifully. From her blog: The release of my Tangled Magic series: … Continue reading Denise D. Young, fantasy-romance author

Five Story Prompts from Book Covers

Submittable's newsletter had a link to a set of super cool book covers in the public domain. I fell down this rabbit hole hard. Here are five great leaping off spots into a short story. Man, I love old books. "There is Death in the Pot." A treatise on spotting adulterated and poisonous food. … Continue reading Five Story Prompts from Book Covers

How Alix E. Harrow Makes Me Cry

This is a story analysis post shared from my Patreon. It's the 27th short story this year in which I've taken apart the casing to watch the engine move. If you like that sort of thing, please consider pledging. Do Not Look Back, My Lion is in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #270, a fabulous magazine … Continue reading How Alix E. Harrow Makes Me Cry

Seven Joys of January

Soon, the cows will be having babies. They'll be so little and cute, curled up in the hay and chasing each other on too-long legs. As I type this, snow is falling thick and forever, weighing down the willows, curling their edges toward the ground. Here are places and ideas and stories that brought me … Continue reading Seven Joys of January

Annihilation & Rosewater

Ever read a book and think, wow...this is super a lot like something else I've read, but also super different and they might be cousins or maybe it's more like the Fibonacci sequence in a sunflower and a seashell meeting in a constellation. Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer This was my second time reading the book. … Continue reading Annihilation & Rosewater

Breaking Rules

There are no writing police. Yes, there are gatekeepers, but those editors and publishers and markets make what they want clear by what they publish. That's one reason I'm doing the 300 published stories challenge over on Patreon. (Come join me!) I'm also reading down my TBR-pile. Currently, I'm working on the re-read of Pullman's … Continue reading Breaking Rules

Olivia’s Table by Alyssa Wong

One of my 2019 goals is to read and analyze 300 short stories to help me be better at short form writing. I'm sharing them in batches of three over on my Patreon, but wanted to highlight this particular story and the lessons I learned from the exercise with you. Olivia's Table by Alyssa … Continue reading Olivia’s Table by Alyssa Wong