The last few weeks have been rough. Not like, ‘my parents were hit by a bus’ rough. Not like, ‘I or someone close to me was diagnosed with cancer’ rough. Not like, ‘The bank reclaimed our house and we’re living out of our car’ rough. Nothing anywhere near that drastic, I assure you. I am…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Amira K.
Writer, explorer, and keeper of Alder the dog.
No more the Summer
Originally posted on celenagaia:
I asked for banners on the sky For words to jag and scrawl intent My eyes were blind to details loud To smaller notes of what you meant The empty sun that fills the west Leaves only low light for my eyes You gave enough to stay the course With breathspace…
Divergence in Dystopia: A Comparison Study
This is a guest post by Kevin Weitzel. In September of 2008, Scholastic had no idea that what they had just released would become a worldwide phenomenon. Since then, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins has been recognized as a global sensation that’s changed the lives of millions. Hitting the New York Times Bestselling Lists…
Read MoreA Five-Step Plan To Writing Great Characters
In my short career as an editor, I’ve found that one thing a lot of writers struggle with is building characters. I’ve always loved character development and found that one of the most beautiful things about reading is getting to know characters the way you know your friends. But as I started reading and editing…
Read MoreActing ‘White’: Guest Post By Rowena M.
There are so many words out there for people of colour who are perceived as acting “white.” Some examples I’ve come across have been coconut (blacks), apple (indigenous North Americans), and banana (East Asians). Why fruits are chosen to ridicule people who aren’t “acting their colour,” I have no idea. All I know is that…
Read MoreWhat’s The Deal With Genres?
Genres are incredibly important things. The best books, of course, will transcend genres – I think of my favorites Catch-22 or the Brothers Karamazov when I think of books that transcend genres and become simply ‘great books’. But when we as writers or publishers are in the process of writing and marketing our works, it’s…
Read MoreWhy We’re (Not) Serializing, Pt. 2
As my well-educated and intellectual readers undoubtedly learned in elementary school, the scientific method is an important way of learning new things by proving or disproving hypotheses. You set out with a theory – a hypothesis – and you try to prove your hypothesis by conducting a series of experiments. You record your data. You…
Read MoreSeven Things You May Not Know About Me
LOOK GUYS I GOT A BLOG AWARD TAG THING WHOAAAAAA Thanks to Jamie Krakover for tagging me in this fun little award / game / project / thing, of which I am very proud to be a part. So without further ado, here are seven things you may not know about me: 1) In 7th grade…
Read MoreWriting As A Team: Collaborative Fiction Writing
This is a re-post from the Alliance of Independent Authors website, for which I contributed an article about writing my debut novel with my mother and sister. Over the last year and a half, a mother and two daughters have written a novel together, collaboratively, in an almost entirely egalitarian fashion. “Somehow all three of…
Read MoreBook Review: “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
BRAVE NEW WORLD is considered a classic in literature, a book students are often required to read in high school, a story that shows the limitations and complexities of utopian/dystopian society. I was told that I had to read it because of the immense similarities between it and my own debut novel, THE SOWING. So naturally, I…
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The Z-Axis 