Works That Inspire Writing Day 1: Hulu’s “Devs”

I decided to write a 30 day blog challenge in which I write about works that inspire me as a writer. I wanted to showcase these things mainly because I needed something to write about that would kick-start my writing day and because I just wanted to share work, hard work, that exemplifies what I

3 Reasons to Not Write a Series (AND 3 Reasons Why You Should)

I’m trying my darnedest to finish the third book in the Five Rims series, and writing this blog entry isn’t really helping me achieve that goal…or is it? I think that I will never attempt another series.  It’s not that my series isn’t exciting as it really is.  I love the idea of creating a massive

3 Ways to Prevent Your Female Heroine From Being Cliche

These days there seems to be a trend in fiction and in film to write strong female characters, characters that are strong on their own without the need for a romantic interest.  We can find examples of these most recently in Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, as the trend continues (as has

5 Reasons Why You Should Be A Panelist At A Convention

Last weekend I was a panelist at SoonerCon 24, listed as a “writer guest” by the website.  SoonerCon 24 is a local science fiction/fantasy convention that is celebrating its 24th year in operation.  It hosts guests from many different media industries, mainly writers, but also featured actor Robert Picardo of Star Trek, Gremlins and Inner

New Podcast Up: Reasons for Writing and Filmgoing

In this episode we discuss the hard life of an indie writer, what that entails, and mostly why we keep writing. Many independent writers quit writing all together when the going gets rough, but what is needed to keep the creative fires burning? We also wrap up the 2014 movie season and discuss what makes

New Podcast Up: There And Back Again Once More

In the first podcast of 2015, we discuss a little bit of literary failure before launching into why we continue writing even in the face of adversity. What keeps you going? We also discuss the final Hobbit film and how it holds up to the text of Tolkien’s work. Finally, we answer some listener mail

Using Setting to Develop a Plot

I’ve seen many different articles around the inter-webs about plot development.  Usually there are two schools of thought: Create highly developed character bios and then they will inform what kind of plot needs to develop. Create a highly developed plot and then the characters will take shape based on the plot created. I have another

Creating Characters and Grading Research Papers

This week has been hectic. The 11th grade research paper was due and I have been in the middle of grading them.  Such is my life. However, in the midst of this, I have been thinking about what makes excellent characterization as I construct my newest character driven novel series. In Orson Scott Card’s book Character

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

3 Reasons We Get Bored With Our Own Plot

I am currently working on a short story collection for an upcoming book release.  I’ve cobbled together some short stories already published on Literary Juice and elsewhere as well as some brand spanking new short stories to send chills up my reader’s spine. However, one short story has really been tough to write, and I