Sequel Breakthrough: Finding A Way Back In

I’ve taken a hiatus from working on the sequel to The Terminarch War to finish up the short story compilation.  I’m almost ready to publish that next week, and the progress on the third book in the Five Rims series is something that has been rather stagnant to say the least. I just can’t get back into

Creative Genius Is On Loan

Today’s TED talk is one from 2009, from best-selling novelist Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love.  She talks about the elusive ghost that is creativity, and has some rather unorthodox ideas about it, ideas that I share to some extent. She states that creativity and suffering seem somehow linked, noting the many artists over the

Writing a Sequel is the Hardest Work of All

I’m currently working on the sequel to The Terminarch Plot, and as I found out when I wrote This Broken Earth, writing a sequel may be the hardest work I’ve ever done as a writer. Usually I write one-offs or novels not intended to produce a sequel.  I wrote The Transgression Box with the intention of writing more of Dornin’s

Writing Progress: Getting Bogged Down

Word count: 6350 Today was hard. Really hard. I fought to get the words on the page. It was a struggle much like wrestling an opponent much larger and more confident than myself. I started by writing up the bio on another hero I intended to use later, and then I erased the start of

5 Ways to Start Working on a Sequel

I’ve planned to release the sequel to The Terminarch Plot in April of 2016.  However, I have had several life issues that have kept me from getting started with it. Everyone likes a series, and when we writers hit on an idea for a viable series with several books planned it is sometimes difficult to remember

4 Reasons Why Facebook Is Not Useful for Authors

Let’s face it. Authors, especially independent authors, need to promote themselves. However, there are ways to promote and ways not to promote.  Social media is a way to promote yourself as a writer, but it can also be a double-edged sword.  Of course, Delilah S. Dawson wrote a fantastic article about the misuse of social

Off the Grid: Recharge Your Creativity

I’ve been away from social media and blogging for about three days.  I needed a break.  I’m in the middle of writing the first book in a series to be released in June entitled The Last Terran and I had hit a creative bump in the road. Sure I have the entire thing plotted out, have created

Writing Requires Discipline

I have taught writing for years and years and I’ve been a writer for twice that long.  I’m writing this blog post today for the writers out there who are thinking of “hanging it up”. If you have tried your hand at this writing gig and you don’t like it, then just do something else.

A Little Inspiration from King Solomon

Every Wednesday night I take my three teens and one elementary child to church.  The little one goes to AWANA clubs while my older three go to youth service.  Our youth minister Scott Buck taught about the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon’s account of his exploration of the meaning of life. No.  It’s not 42.

New Podcast Up: Beginning Lines and Ending Hobbits

In this end of year podcast we discuss the most important beginning of any novel: the first line. The first line is something that writers like Stephen King spend a month preparing. It is the line that hooks the reader, that sets the tone for the novel, and is a sort of “thesis statement” for