10. “Did you finish the book yet?” (Variations: How close are you? When will you finish? Are you actually going to finish this one?) 9. “When will it come out?” Don’t bother explaining that finishing the story is only the beginning. Folks outside the industry tend to romanticize the process: we authors toil with quill…
There are hundreds of writing conferences to choose from; how to pick the best one? It’s RMFW’s Colorado Gold. That was easy. Shortest blog post ever. Ok, but if you want to go to more than one, here are some factors to consider based on my country-wide tour of writing conferences this year. Size. WorldCon…
Every time I tell someone I write horror, I feel compelled to add “but not like slasher horror.” Often I find it easiest to describe what something is not as a means of paring down to the thing’s essence. Why I feel the need to justify my writing as “not slasher” or “not too gory”…
Spooky Season is officially upon us. I read a lot of horror and thrillers but especially around this time of year, without feeling the need to balance the dark with an occasional romcom. I’m intrigued by the mysterious and supernatural elements of course, yet perhaps the most compelling ingredient of these genres for me is…
Well, not the final final part. You still have to come to my workshop at the Colorado Gold Conference next month. And of course, that isn’t the final lesson, either. As with most skills, reading publicly is a lifelong learning experience that improves with practice. Speaking of practice, how do you prepare for a reading?…