New Podcast Up: Hidden Characters In Alexandria

In this episode we discuss an interesting point of characterization we like to call “hidden characterization”. This is a kind of dramatic irony where the character’s actions do not match up with their external motivation for doing the action. It has been used infrequently in fiction and in television as in novels such as “The

Giving a Protagonist a Hidden Motivation

Recently I have been in the middle of writing the first installment of a new series entitled The Five Rims.  The first book is titled The Last Terran, and my protagonist is definitely out of the ordinary. Guillermo March is a former security officer with the C’Tuulian Planetary Police Force, the only Terran to work for them,

5 Tricks to Keep a Modern Reader Interested

I can’t count the amount of indie books I’ve started but haven’t finished.  I read everything on Kindle now save a few of my favorites like those in my Tolkien collection (I have all hard-bound editions of those).  If I want to figure out whether I want to read a new book, I download a

New Podcast Up: Villains and Walking Dead Spoilers

On this episode we discuss villains. What makes a great villain? What are the ingredients for excellent and engaging villains that readers will love to hate and love to somehow empathize with? We also discuss the AMC debacle with the Season 5 mid-season finale goof where AMC actually spoiled their own program for West Coast

10 of the Worst Cliches in Fiction Writing

I’m a reader because all good writers are readers.  Mostly, however, I read because I love to read.  I am in many ways like Henry Bemis in “Time Enough At Last”, adapted from a Lyne Venable short story which chronicles the sad life of a chronic reader.  I’m so glad I have a Kindle Paperwhite, because

New Podcast Up: Killin’ Like…A Villain

In this episode, we discuss the strange trope of killing a villain off midway through a novel. What are the consequences of such a daring act as a writer and what might our readers think if we do such a thing? Do we really need a “villain” anyway? Roger talks about Natasha Wittman’s new book

Killing the Villain: A Daring Plot Device

[First of all, I would like to say that this blog post contains spoilers about the current season of The Walking Dead, so if you are not current, then do not read any further.] At the end of season 4 of The Walking Dead we were introduced to a new villain: the cold, cannibalistic Gareth.  Gareth is a

New Podcast Up: Plagiarism Stinks!

On this episode we discuss the very real problem of plagiarism and how it can be annoying…especially if you are the one being plagiarized. I talk at length about my recent run-in with EssayMama and how they ripped off my viral blog post “Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers”. Shoot, even Suzanne Collins plagiarizes. Have you

5 Fears Writers Must Overcome

Over the years I have become more and more determined in my quest for greater distribution of my work, and along that journey I have had to not just overcome but put to rest many fears that I had about being an independent novelist.  I have three novels under my belt at present, and am

New Podcast Up: Short Story Writing and Invested Characters

In this episode Ryan and I discuss the writing of short stories and how you can use short stories to wet your appetite for writing a novel. How many of your short stories could eventually become novels? How do you translate a short story into a novel? We also discuss characters in fiction that cause us