A word from Conan the Grammarian: Concerning the Critical Importance of look-alike words, or similar or commonly mistaken words. Learn the diffs! As Conan has often admonished writers, this is not advanced rocketry or even higher mathematics. In no particular order, these words often appeared incorrectly in this year’s contest manuscripts. Stanch & staunch The…
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FREEZE! SMOKE POLICE!
I’m sure most of you have heard of Writers’ Police Academy, the four day conference offering an exciting and heart-pounding interactive and educational hands-on experience designed to enhance a writers understanding of all aspects of law enforcement, firefighting, EMS, and forensics. If you’re writing anything with a cop in it, I highly recommend the experience….
Rocky Mountain Writer #94
Curtis Craddock & An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors Many times on the podcast we’ve had examples of patience and hard work, and this chat with Curtis Craddock is proof again of the notion that you just need to keep writing and keep getting better. It also doesn’t hurt to attend Colorado Gold. Again, we’ve had…
Hocus Focus
Another one of those articles came across my feeds the other day. You know the ones? The ones where somebody with a book or two placed with A Real Publisher decries the sad state of authorship and how being poor but published is much superior to being one of Those People? There are fewer of…
The Trap of the Magical Negro and why it needs to be Avoided
The Magical Negro is a trope as old as American literature. Originally, the Magical Negro was there to show white readers that African-Americans could be wise, intelligent, and loyal, just like all Americans. It served its purpose for many years and now it needs to be retired. In this article, I will try to explain…