I once went to a book signing of a prominent author (someone quite famous and established, but I won’t name-drop). As the last one in line to get his signature, I was surprised and pleased when he said, “Looks like you’re the last one. Tell you what, I’m starving, let’s go get a bite to…
Tag: the lucifer strain
The Immediacy of Action
Writing an action sequence is a unique part of writing. All of the rest of writing—setting a scene, establishing a character, revealing an epiphany, etc.—are all different as well. But they are clear siblings of each other. Action stands apart from all the others as much as a raven sitting on a wire amidst blue…
Who is this Julie Forth, and why are we celebrating her?
On the day we celebrate our independence from tyranny, I’d like to discuss some books that remind us why, with all her flaws, the United States of America is, in my opinion, the most successful political experiment in the history of mankind. The following books remind us of the lofty and noble ideals upon which our…
Building Plot Complexity
For most readers, a satisfying plot is a fairly complex one. A single, relatively linear plot can be mildly entertaining, but usually not very memorable or satisfying. A story with not only twists and turns, but with sidetracks and subplots that all seem to somehow tie in, even loosely, give readers a much richer, deeper…
Plotting Whiplash
I remember reading Stephen R. Donaldson’s Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever as a teen and feeling frustrated. At the time, I didn’t have the experience to define the source of that frustration, but later in life I was able to put my finger on it. I was reading good-sized books about epic fantasy adventures,…