Round-Up of What’s What

I had trouble choosing one singular favorite book I read this year, but I wrote up a whole post about what I loved and recommend in case you need another excuse to fill your shelves with wonderful words! And, in my ongoing quest to be more intentional with my reading (and everything else, let's be … Continue reading Round-Up of What’s What

Internal Comparison – The Goal

The new year is coming, and my plans for 2020 are shouting loudly in my ear. It's like riding on a bus crammed with middle-schoolers - everyone has something they want me hear. One goal for next year is making my morning poetry time more active. Right now, I read a poem or two and … Continue reading Internal Comparison – The Goal

June’s Story Prompts

HOW is it already June? Have you written as many stories as you thought you would? Are you feeling stuck from mowing lawns and playing taxi to the little ones? Here are some cool story ideas to get you started - 1. Black, Hot Ice Planets "...a new phase of water with bizarre properties. Unlike the … Continue reading June’s Story Prompts

FS;HE – Edna St. Vincent Millay

It's time for another round of the creativity game, Famous Starts/Humble Endings! If you've never played, the rules are fairly simple. I will give you lines of a famous poem in bold. Your job is to write the next line. There are no wrong answers! This is simply a way to play with words and … Continue reading FS;HE – Edna St. Vincent Millay

Without Trying

I took this photo without being able to see my phone screen while I did it. Right!?! I think sometimes I try too hard. (I can hear you all pretending to be shocked.) When I first started writing, I didn't worry so much about everything. Then, I started to take it seriously, and my feelings … Continue reading Without Trying

MAPS!

I was lounging in The Chairs at Miscon 32 with a friend, Jeff Howe. We hadn't seen each other in a year, so we were catching up on each other's lives. He mentioned he was going to use some old National Geographic maps as story prompts. Enamored with this brilliance, I told him I'd be … Continue reading MAPS!

Collaborative Brainstorming

This was a new panel for Miscon 32, and I loved the honesty of it. Rhiannon Held, urban fantasy author, and Krista Wallace, author/actress/musician, spoke and acted. They listed ideas and then modeled behaviors - ones that opened up creativity and others that closed it down. My notes are practically illegible, but here's what I … Continue reading Collaborative Brainstorming

World-Building, Part II

The world-building panel at Miscon 32 moderated by Brandon Sanderson was crammed with ideas. This is Part Two. On designing governments, Sanderson said he's fascinated with the push/pull of who is said to be in charge versus who is actually in charge and who makes law. He recommended C.G.P. Grey's Rules for Rulers. He added … Continue reading World-Building, Part II

World-Building, Part I

This panel at Miscon 32 was full of people saying things from brains that aren't my own. It was wild. You know what I mean by that, right? Someone says something, and you think, "Whoa. What a cool way to view the world!" And your viewpoint shifts as if they pulled aside a blue veil. … Continue reading World-Building, Part I

Lily’s Contract

*throws confetti* This is the last installment! It's been 52 weeks! An entire year! I wrote the first draft of a novel by writing 500-800 words a week. You can do this, too. The draft needs a lot of work. Revising. Editing. Layering. But the bones are mapped out for me whenever I decide to … Continue reading Lily’s Contract