What is Gaslighting?
I’ve worked with a number of horror writers, and many of my students’ manuscripts deal with characters who are in emotionally or psychologically abusive situations. […]
Who’s Mary Sue?
“Write what you know” is good advice for most any author. And authors typically know themselves better than anyone else (or at least they should; […]
What’s a tuckerization?
A tuckerization is the intentional use of a real person’s name in a fictional story without necessarily basing the fictional character’s personality or appearance on […]
SFF Net Shutdown
The big news for me this past week is that I had to move my website. This turned into quite an intensive project because I’d neglected it […]
On Alpha Males
If you have been writing mostly horror but are interested in branching out into urban fantasy or paranormal romance, there are some genre conventions to keep in […]
The Gen Con Writer’s Symposium
Gen Con is first and foremost a gaming convention. It is a massive gaming convention. It completely fills the 700,000+ square feet of the Indiana […]
A Guide to Binge Writing
As I’ve noted before, I am not a slow and steady author. My life would probably be a bit simpler if I were. I see […]
On Urban Fantasy
On several occasions, I’ve heard readers bemoaning the comparatively small number of horror novels being released by major publishers. But the horror is out there; […]
Friends For Your Fiction
Very few writers are at a place in their craft and career where they can write in complete isolation, finish a story, send it off […]
Sprinting For The Deadline
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. – Douglas Adams “C’mon, pencil! Make words!” – SpongeBob SquarePants Many […]
Convention Writing Workshop Tracks
Right now, I’m in the process of putting together the writing workshop track for Context 23. The convention has grown considerably in the past four […]
Exploring Amazon Rankings
Some of you may be unfamiliar with Amazon.com rankings. Amazon and Barnes & Noble both rank books according to relative sales position. The book ranked […]