I figured out which novel I’m going to write. Now I need to figure out how to give myself the best way to move forward on it. I read Linda Maye Adams’ Pantser’s Guide to Writing last night. It’s a very quick read and left me with things to think about. She also recommended Dean…

Last night I met a new fascinating person and the topic turned to writing and representation. Those who know me know that I agonize frequently about this issue and the hopelessness of ever being able to get things right, especially when writing about people in the distant past. I worry too much about offending people…

When is your courage at its highest? For me it’s morning, just after my first cup of tea. It’s not that I feel I can do anything, but I haven’t yet accumulated the excuses of why I can’t accomplish what I want to. That’s why I do my blog in the morning. I am rested…

Between sickness, cold, and trips, I haven’t hiked since early January. So it was an intense pleasure to be outside tromping through the woods again. Apparently the natural world thinks it is spring. The trees are in bloom. Birds and toads sing into the quiet forest. I didn’t see any snakes yet, so perhaps we…

I mentioned yesterday that one of the things I’ve learned from writing a short story a week is that some genres and settings come more easily to me. Surprisingly to me it isn’t about what is the most fun for me to read. I love Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Diving the Wreck series. I love Lois…

After I turn in today’s story, I will only need eleven more stories to complete The Great Challenge (52 stories in 52 weeks). At the beginning, I found the challenge truly difficult. I had never written a short story so quickly and I agonized with lots of false starts, bad middles, and stories that didn’t…