“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” ― Toni Morrison
The Twilight series is something I have been wanting to talk about for some time now, but lacked the courage to do so. It is potentially one of the most openly hated books to come out of the 21st century (a position only recently overtaken by 50 Shades of Grey) and is still mocked to… Continue reading What the Backlash of “Twilight” Taught Me
So spoiler warning, I guess, even though this book was written over forty years ago. I usually don't write blog posts about books I don't finish but I thought I would make an exception with this one as it hasn't been since The Magus that I have had such a drastically different opinion from the… Continue reading I Couldn’t Finish “The Last Unicorn” by Peter Beagle
I never thought procrastination would be so simple, but I found a way. I found a way. I set out working on chapter seven of my story and somehow found myself plunging into the ether of pop culture sludge. For literally no reason at all, I began looking into the Drake and Josh controversy. In… Continue reading How Drake and Josh Are Destroying My Novel
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE NOVEL. As an avid fan of du Maurier's Rebecca, I have to confess that I was a bit disappointed with My Cousin Rachel. It started off very strong with little Philip coming face to face with the corpse of a man who had been hanged for murdering his wife, a scene… Continue reading Thoughts on “My Cousin Rachel” by Daphne du Maurier
Last week I wrote a post about Mary Sues and why people write them. Today, I want to give you some unsolicited pointers on how to avoid writing a Mary Sue, or even a Gary Stu (the male equivalent). Enjoy! Start with a real person. While it may not be a good idea to base a… Continue reading How to Mary Sue Proof Your Characters
Conventional wisdom says that you're supposed to write what you know. However, I have decided to go the harder route and try writing what I don't know. Why am I trying to carry out this obviously horrible idea? Because if I never try anything new, every single protagonist I write will be an introverted middle-class… Continue reading How I’m Writing What I Don’t Know
It's pretty obvious that one of the central components to a story is the conflict. It doesn't matter what the conflict is: fighting the Dark Lord, winning the beef cake, or keeping the world from losing its Twinkies. There just has to be a problem for the protagonist to solve. I am good at coming… Continue reading A Writer’s Dilemma: The Problem With Conflict
It's been over a week since I've updated this blog and I've been feeling guilty about neglecting it. I would use the excuse that I've been busy (and I have), but more than that, I've been emotionally rung out (haven't we all) and I didn't trust myself to use this medium without making it all… Continue reading Amidst Political Chaos, My Novel Progresses
I suspected this day would come. I had just hoped I would be more ready for it. I realized upon rereading the most recent draft of my latest project that I would not be able to do my characters justice in such a short amount of time. If I want to tell the story and… Continue reading My Novella is a Novel Now
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the novel. It's been out since the 90s, but I thought I should give you a heads up anyway. Pros: Gallifrey. Firstly, I would like to say I love how in-depth the writer is when describing Gallifrey in this novel. You would think that it would bog down the plot,… Continue reading “The Infinity Doctors” a Doctor Who Novel Review
The Crooked Pen 