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 Musings
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…
A 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 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…
Read MoreBook Review: “His Own Good Sword” By Amanda McCrina
Are you a fan of historical fiction? Alternate history? Particularly that which happens to be based loosely around the Roman Empire? Do you enjoy reading about rural uprisings, moral quandaries, sword fights, or Imperial politics? If so, I strongly encourage you to hop on over to Amazon to pick up an ebook copy of Amanda…
Read MoreSymbols Are Power
I remember spending an inordinate amount of time in my freshman year high school class discussing symbolism. “But what does the albatross symbolize?” we were asked about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. “But what does the snake represent?” we were asked about D.H. Lawrence’s famous poem. “But what does Antigone’s burial ceremony mean?” At the time, I…
Read MoreDystopia On Demand
This is a guest post by Kurt McCrohan. Execution by combat, globally spread degenerative disease, and a bleak, desolate landscape challenging human survival. Sounds familiar, and there’s a reason for that. These are but a few examples of the themes which have been dominating the most recent popular films and novels, and while they are…
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The Z-Axis 