This author’s note originally appeared in the September 19th edition of my author newsletter. To subscribe to my newsletter, click here. It’s September, which means (among other things) that it’s time to revisit my business plan and update it for the next year. Every January 1st, I print out a new and revised copy of… Continue reading 2019-09-19 Newsletter Author’s Note
Tag: character
And you call yourself a writer??
So I got into another online political debate on a writer’s forum last month. Shocking, I know. This one started with a discussion of political correctness and an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, and quickly devolved into an argument about corporate censorship, gun control, Trump, and every other controversial issue in politics. Needless… Continue reading And you call yourself a writer??
Trope Tuesday: Death Seeker
The Death Seeker is a character who wants to die, but for whatever reason isn’t willing to commit outright suicide. The TVtropes page has a good summary: At some point in the past, some characters have had a traumatic experience, found themselves dishonored, committed a crime they could not repay, or lost everything worth living… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Death Seeker
Trope Tuesday: Only the Chosen May Wield
So I’m bringing back the Trope Tuesday posts, but with a little twist: instead of talking about the trope itself and what I like / don’t like about it, I’m going to talk about how I used that trope in one of my books. And since The Sword Keeper is currently up for preorder, I’m… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Only the Chosen May Wield
Character Sheet Template
I’ve had such a ridiculously hard time lately trying to look up old characters, either from half-finished WIPs that I’ve recently picked up again, or from books I plan to publish but need to give a character description for the cover artist to work from. My Google-fu is pretty good, but a text search will… Continue reading Character Sheet Template
Larry Correia on creating “offensive” characters
Larry Correia has a fantastic post up on the pitfalls of political correctness when writing fictional characters. He not only nails it on the head, he takes a nail that’s been twisted in three different directions and rams it into the wood with just a couple of well-placed taps. Seriously, if you’re interested in writing… Continue reading Larry Correia on creating “offensive” characters
Why I stopped watching House of Cards
I started watching House of Cards a couple of weeks ago, and really got into it for a while. As longtime readers of this blog will remember, I spent a semester in DC at a high-powered K street internship, and was thoroughly disgusted by what I found there. House of Cards is all about the… Continue reading Why I stopped watching House of Cards
Where’s SONS OF THE STARFARERS: BOOK IV?
So it’s been several months since I released Strangers in Flight (Sons of the Starfarers: Book III), and I’ve already gotten some flak from people waiting impatiently for Book IV: Friends in Command. Some of you may be wondering about that yourself, considering how I wrote and released the first three books within a couple… Continue reading Where’s SONS OF THE STARFARERS: BOOK IV?
The love languages of Star Wanderers
So I’ve been reading this really interesting book recently called The Five Love Languages. Maybe you’ve heard of it. The basic idea is that all expressions of human love and affection fall into five basic categories or languages, and that we’re all better at speaking or understanding one language than we are at the others.… Continue reading The love languages of Star Wanderers
Thoughts on the danger of falling in love with your characters
As a writer, I spend so much time in the heads of my viewpoint characters that I can’t help but like them. So it sometimes comes as a surprise when readers get frustrated and want to slap my characters around. To be fair, sometimes I do that on purpose. For example, in Stars of Blood… Continue reading Thoughts on the danger of falling in love with your characters