I don’t write short novels. As a rule. Most of them are quite long, some behemoths. In fact my epic fantasy novel (with the original title for the whole thing…Continue readingHow long should it be?
Every book has a story – of its origins, of the secrets and the inspiration which led to its existence, the surprises that leaped out at the writer during the…Continue readingWhence AbductiCon?
One of a series of essays about the backstories of my books – the origins, the inspiration, the difficulties, the surprises. The essays originally appeared in the Book View Café…Continue readingWhence The Weres?
The uniqueness of story You hear all kinds of numbers for the plot lines available to authors — 27, 10, 7, 3, 2, 1. Those who favor two – “Someone…Continue readingSomething is wrong
Fantasy is a lens which sharpens and clarifies the sliver of reality viewed through it. Magic is one of the tools used to accomplish this, and it’s a powerful one.…Continue readingThe Power of Magic
I first crossed paths with Joshua Palmatier, who would also go on to write under the name Benjamin Tate, at a con – where else does one make friends who…Continue readingThe LEY of the land
The last days of a Comic-con I had been hearing distinctive Artoo Detoo chirps and raspberries for a while but I couldn’t quite nail down where they came from –…Continue readingPeople people EVERYWHERE
My first Comic-con: Friday, Day 2 The closer I got to the Convention Center the more surreal the streets became. Pirates. Boba Fetts. Lots of Reys, of different ages and…Continue readingSurrealism in Seattle
My first Comic-con: Day 1 My knowledge of the comic-con phenomenon came from the legends of my tribe, the nerds and the geeks and the science fiction and fantasy people…Continue readingThe geeks and the nerds
“In late 2006, I wrote the first book review on Goodreads,” Otis Chandler writes on the website’s blog. “It was a simple, two-paragraph review of ‘A Short History of Nearly…Continue readingHow many reviews?!!