Authors: Truth vs Myth

Maybe you hope to be an author. Maybe you have a friend who is one. Either way, there are plenty of misconceptions about what happens when a writer becomes published. The minutes I became a published author, these assumptions started popping out of my friends’ and acquaintances mouths until I just had to put aside [...]

Ramblings on Writing Spaces

Growing up, all my stories and poems and songs and plays - even my first couple of books - went into spiral notebooks. They were badly smudged, with that pesky left-hander pencil smear across most of the pages. I can still remember the smell of pencil shavings and the satisfying rustle of pages turning. I [...]

Last Words

Characters die. Sometimes they're characters we don't like. But sometimes they're characters who mean so much to us that we mourn their deaths almost as a friend would do. I've never liked killing off my own characters - even the truly evil ones. Yet sometimes an author must. Recently I had to work on writing [...]

The Author of the Story

I found it amusing, at first, to know that I was writing a story within a story while penning The Word Changers. Now and then I would smile ironically to myself and shake my head. It was just too much fun. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, The Word Changers is about a [...]

What’s More Important Than Books?

This is a guest post by Kohlie Stock. Books. They are enchanting, captivating, and obsessive. I am guilty of getting caught in their drama and storyline. Through books I’ve traveled the world, fallen in love, and at times been emotionally wrecked. Let’s be honest, when you pick up a book, particularly of the fantasy genre, [...]

Fictional Forests: The Real-Life Inspirations

“Beyond the Wild Wood comes the wild world,” said the Rat. “And that’s something that doesn’t matter, either to you or to me. I’ve never been there, and I’m never going, nor you either, if you’ve got any sense at all.” ― Kenneth Grahame The Wild Wood Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows was inspired [...]

Names of Strength and Whimsy in Literature

While researching names for my next book, I began thinking of all the names I've always loved from my favorite stories. What makes a good name, exactly? Does it need to have a certain sound? A particular meaning? A "feel" to it - happy, solemn, playful or fateful? I came up with a list of several [...]