Wow, guys. Just, wow. I have so much to announce and so little time to do it. Okay, here goes: First: WE HAVE A BOOK RELEASE DATE. The book that I’ve co-authored with my sister and mom, THE SOWING, will be released in weekly installments beginning July 17, 2013. I can’t wait, and I am…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Musings
On Hearing Loss, Reading, and Writing: A Personal Narrative
From a very early age, I was fascinated with language. I was speaking in full, complete sentences before I even got my first tooth in. My parents described me as being like a tiny elderly person, a sort of Benjamin Button character, gummy and toothless but coherent and eager to communicate. I learned to read…
Read MoreIRON MAN 3 – My First Movie Review!
Confession time: I love superhero movies. I love superhero movies because: A) They’re awesome. Things explode. Bad guys happen and are killed or banished to the end of time (e.g. Loki). The good guys always triumph. B) Superhero movies are a thrilling and entertaining way to explore what defines and unites humanity in all our…
Read MoreFour Reasons To Attend A Writing Conference
I went to my first writer’s conference this weekend! It was really low-key and casual, but still informative, and I definitely met some great people. I’d like to hearken back briefly to my post about the life of a young writer because the gif I put in about being “At A Writing Conference” held remarkably true…
Read MoreA Poem
Seeing as it is Poetry Appreciation Month, I decided to try my hand at writing one of my own – something I haven’t attempted since college. I’m not much of a poet, and I wouldn’t consider myself particularly well-versed in poetry (see my previous post) but now seems to be as good a time as…
Read MoreIt’s Poetry Appreciation Month!
And that means we have to celebrate by pretending to like poetry for a little while, or by sharing our favorite poems, or poets, or at the very least talking about why we don’t like poetry, if that happens to be the case. I’ll be making a distinct effort to actually talk about poetry a few times during the…
Read MoreWhat Does Your Rating Scale Say About You?
So I finally figured out a way to properly define book ratings so that they make sense to me, and (hopefully) will make sense to my readers. I’ve always struggled with the traditional five-star rating system, because there’s so much room for misinterpretation. For instance, if someone rates something four stars, does that mean it…
Read MoreThe 5 Best Writing Tips I’ve Ever Received
First I want to take a minute to say THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my last post or followed my blog after I wrote the post ‘The 5 Worst Writing Tips I’ve Ever Received.’ It was really thrilling to have so many people engaged in the conversation, and I hope we can keep…
Read MoreThe 5 Worst Writing Tips I’ve Ever Received
As someone who tries to write very consciously and deliberately, I like to pay attention to writing tips from agents, publishers, and other authors. I also got a fair few back in English classes when I was a young’un in high school. I’ve seen some pretty awful writing tips in my day, and I wanted…
Read MoreWhy IS Dystopian Fiction So Great?
The estimable Jamey Stegmaier emailed me the other day after I posted my last book review and asked me a very interesting question. What is it, he asked, that you like so much about dystopian fiction? The question really got me thinking. After all, I’m working on a book with strong dystopian elements, and I’ve read a whole…
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The Z-Axis 