Heart of the Nebula 2.0 is finished!

That’s right: the second draft of Heart of the Nebula, direct sequel to Bringing Stella Home, is now finished.  Here are the stats: words: 90,081 chapters: 20 ms pages: 426 start date: 7 Nov 2011 end date: 4 Dec 2011 And the word splash: This was just a quick draft to fix some of the… Continue reading Heart of the Nebula 2.0 is finished!

Picking up the pace

I’m writing this post from somewhere in Iowa, riding the California Zephyr from Chicago to Salt Lake City. Since I hate sleeping on the train, I figured now is as good a time as any to write a blog post. One of the good things about traveling by train is that you have lots of… Continue reading Picking up the pace

Random updates before leaving

I’m spending Thanksgiving with my parents this year, which means I’m leaving for Massachusetts tomorrow…by train.  Well, technically, Sunday morning, since the cross-country trains come through Salt Lake City in the wee hours, but to my way of thinking it’s tomorrow and not Sunday.  Either way, I won’t be posting anything until Tuesday night, since… Continue reading Random updates before leaving

Struggling not to settle

I’m in the middle of my first revision pass through Heart of the Nebula, direct sequel to Bringing Stella Home, and…I don’t know exactly how to put this, but the story seems to be simultaneously smoother and more shallow.  Plot-wise, everything works great; character-wise, there just doesn’t seem to be as much depth as my… Continue reading Struggling not to settle

Slogging along

So I’m working part time now, making ends meet as I get ready to finish up the year and go abroad for a while.  This time, I’m only doing about 20-30 hours per week, so it’s much easier to balance writing with everything.  Minecraft is still a distraction, but I think I’m finding a good… Continue reading Slogging along

Why I’m not a fan of writing groups

I was listening to a recent episode of I Should Be Writing today, and it got me thinking about writing groups and how my philosophy on them has changed.  Long story short, I used to love them, but now I’m not such a huge fan. I should probably start out by mentioning that I lead… Continue reading Why I’m not a fan of writing groups

Random late night thoughts

I’ve been going on a lot of late night walks lately, just wandering restlessly around Provo.  Tonight I had some interesting thoughts about how much I’ve changed in the last year.  Surprisingly, I’ve grown a lot. Last  year at this time, I was all geared up for World Fantasy Convention.  I had just finished Bringing… Continue reading Random late night thoughts

New guest post and blurb for Desert Stars

First of all, my latest guest post for the Bringing Stella Home blog tour is up at The Villain’s Worst Nightmare.  In it, I discuss where I got the idea for the Hameji, and how I world-builded (world-built?) their culture from the ground up.  Good stuff; you can find it here, along with another giveaway… Continue reading New guest post and blurb for Desert Stars

Coming along nicely

First things first: the latest post for the Bringing Stella Home blog tour is up over at Michael Offut’s blog; you can find it here.  Michael asked me to blog about Brandon Sanderson’s English 318R class, so I recapped some of my experiences, including the best advice Brandon ever gave me.  Go check it out!… Continue reading Coming along nicely

BSH blog tour and other random updates

Just a few things to get out of the way before returning to other things: I’ve started the blog tour for Bringing Stella Home, and the first post was on my friend Kindal’s blog; you can find it here.  He asked me to blog about music and writing, so I shared some of my thoughts… Continue reading BSH blog tour and other random updates