New Worlds: Death Sentences
Our previous tour through physical punishments, back in Year Four, stopped short of a rather crucial one: execution. (Content warnings for basically every form of violence.)
Writing
articles on writing
So You Want to Commit Novel: Plot
Originally published 6/10/2010 Last week we talked about the synopsis. Some of you may have noticed a flaw. How can you write a summary of the plot if you don’t know how you get from page one to the end? Good point. My first stab at a synopsis takes the material I do know and …
New Worlds: Torture
I was originally going to title this essay “We Have Ways of Making You Talk,” but I decided that was too flippant for the subject matter. Because although we have sometimes played torture for laughs in our stories, it’s honestly a horrifying and grotesque affair. (The obvious content warnings apply.) We’ve touched on this somewhat …
Writing about the Future
Originally published November 2018 The subject of my current project is social fantasy. It’s not a nice fantasy, but it will have, if not a happy, a satisfying ending. I’m thinking of publishing it with Book View Cafe, however, it might be too black. Maybe I should go back to the English Mastiff book. But …
New Worlds: Call the Police
One of the interesting things about police as an element of society is just how broad the concept is. In various times and places, their duties have included everything from catching stray animals to quelling riots to investigating crimes. Which are three very different tasks . . . and yet all of them have been …
So You Want To Commit Novel: More Plot
Originally published 6/17/2010 Let me introduce you to two have my favorite books on writing. I know there are hundreds out there, but these two work for me. First off “Scene and Structure” by Jack M. Bickham . This is a condensation (less verbose) of the some of the ideas put forth in “Techniques Of …
New Worlds: Policing the Populace
Welcome to Year Seven (!) of the New Worlds Patreon! The collection for Year Six will be out next month, but in the meanwhile, if you’ve been enjoying these essays, please consider becoming a patron. We’re starting off this year with a bang, because my faithful patrons have voted to begin with how societies respond …
Help Me Create an Alien
Originally published 1/2/2010 Brainstorm is an accurate description of what happens to an author when an idea strikes. The mind whirls furiously, new thoughts compound and spiral out of control. Then the itch in the fingers begins as phrases and sentences demand to transfer to computer screen or blank paper, or restarunt napkin, even the …
The Rambling Writer’s Featured Week with the International Pulpwood Queens Book Club, part 7
My featured week with the Pulpwood Queens ends with some advice about promoting your novels. NOTE: This series started on Dec. 31. I’m honored to have my seriocomic novel of midlife reinvention PAUSE, published by Book View Cafe, selected by The International Pulpwood Queens Book Club as a December 2022 title. http://www.thepulpwoodqueens.com During my featured week …
New Worlds: Don’t Eat That
Vegetarianism is an increasingly common topic of discussion these days, along with its stricter sibling, veganism (no use of animal products at all), and more lenient cousins like pescetarianism (fish permitted). But although these may seem like new trends, the underlying ideas have been with us for quite some time. Many of our ancestors were …
WORLD-BUILDING & RELIGION: Pitfalls, Religious Diversity, Schism & Pluralism
This article features my answers to several questions from the Catholic Writers’ Conference Online that I participated in for several years. They deal with the pitfalls of using religion in fantasy, how I deal with diverse points of view and schism in my work. Q: What are the pitfalls of religion in fantasy and how …
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Favorite Characters
As an author of historical fiction, I’m often asked who my favorite character is. Particularly, I’m asked about the fictional characters, because the historical figures are who they were and I must portray them as believably themselves. I don’t do alternate history. But with the fictional supporting players I get to decide who they are, …
The Rambling Writer’s Featured Week with the International Pulpwood Queens Book Club, part 6
Follow my journey from Big 5 traditionally-published author to joining an author-owned cooperative publishing group, with travails and triumphs along the way. NOTE: This series started on Dec. 31. I’m honored to have my seriocomic novel of midlife reinvention PAUSE, published by Book View Cafe, selected by The International Pulpwood Queens Book Club as a December …
