The big boys were really throwing down in Chi-Town last night.

Middle Bro and I spent the evening with CBS' Saturday Night Fights (mixed martial arts Strikeforce: M-1 Global), and the card was HOT. The main event, Fedor/Rogers, turned out to be the stuff of legend, I tell you. (And Big John McCarthy was reffing!) The bout that made me think ( Read more... )

Some years ago, I started a troubleshooting list for when a scene in a story simply would not jell once I got it down on paper. I’m not talking about major plot problems. Rather, when the Big Picture is fine but the Little Picture you’re working on at the time (said scene or chapter) feels stiff, or jerky, or forced, and you The Writer are not ( Read more... )

Have you ever had SO much to say about SO many things that it all canceled itself out and you couldn't say anything? What do you do when that happens?

I've been so distracted lately, mentally scattered in so many directions, that I haven't been able to pull any one thing together into a coherent notion. I mean, yes, this is my Writingscape and I can ( Read more... )

Natural short storytellers won't see the big deal because, frankly, they can do this in their sleep. But I'm telling you--when a person who has comfortably written 100,000- to 150,000-word fantasy novels her whole life is about to finish a coherent (and pretty darned good) 15,000-word novella, it is Cause For Celebration. It's been a long, ( Read more... )

Usually, when I sit down to write a first-draft scene, the setting, action, and dialogue have already fermented and congealed into form so that I make the most of my time. But every now and then, even with that prep work, when I get it on the page, something's off. It feels forced, or trite, or something not right, and I find myself stuck ( Read more... )

Dark Paranormal heroine’s Beretta 9mm gives me fits. It’s in her hand, then boom--a scene later, she’s punching somebody and I’ve lost sight of it. Gah!

Problem solved.

What if life came in a clear package?


( Read more... )

While I'm waiting for Dark Paranormal WIP to print out (I'm taking it, a spiral notebook, jimvanpelt's The Radio Magician and Other Stories ARC, and a few other goodies to the hospital, as I'll probably be there all day and possibly the night), here's some hodgepodge running through my dynastic head...
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What do you do when your writing group ( Read more... )

(I'm not on Twitter yet, but I can fake it, just for you. Isn't that sweet?)
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8537 words fell under my machete. Dark paranormal WIP reads really well, now. Aaaaah, my protagonist! I want to throw him on my sofa and-
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(Is it 140 characters with spaces, or without? Oh, well. More dynastic business tomorrow, if I can bust ( Read more... )

What is a Friday without this concoction? Just dig in and enjoy.

My Galactic Pics for this Week.
A single Cheerio without the milk.
The blue lagoon without Brooke Shields.
My favorite nebula! Just throw a saddle on it.
Let's get the hell outta here.
Dust bunnies in spaaaace!
Krakatoa Junior.

Stories that made me double-take.
State closer ( Read more... )