Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's Blog: #42 Pencil: A Writer's Life, the Universe, and Everything, page 120

Making Word(s) Count #2: Playing the Trump Card

Action and suspense sequences and scenes with high emotional content are among the most easily sabotaged by excess verbal baggage and convoluted sentences. So, too are sentences that are intended as “trump cards” and which are played with a flourish at the end of a scene, chapter or story. They function like the punch line in a joke, and they work only when they are punchy (concise) enough to convey their full meaning in one or two bites.

I use these a lot in my short fiction especially. My la...

Unsellable Stories?

Gabrielle Harbowy, who is both an editor and writer, knows about “unsellable” stories. As an editor, she’s acquired and edited novels that had been rejected so many times, the authors were despondent (and some of these have gone on to receive great reviews and award nominations). She’s also rejected stories that other editors have picked up.

My own experience of being both author and editor is that things look different “from the other side of the desk.” Yes, making editorial decisions about s...

BVC Announces Fantastical Ramblings by Irene Radford

Fantastical Ramblings

A collection of short fantasy fiction

Irene Radford

Roam with Herakles in search of a safe home for a magical sword, go into exile with a descendant of Merlin, and learn the wisdom of a wolfhound pup to help you wander along newly forged paths into the imagination. Award winning author Irene Radford presents twelve fantasy stories including classics, out of print anthology pieces, and a tantalizing new tale or two.

Dragon Treasure

A free sample story from Fantastical Rambling...

Squaring the Circle at Seattle Public Library

Translator Ursula K. Le Guin and Mariano Martin Rodriguez appeared at the Seattle Public Library to launch Aqueduct Press’ edition of Squaring the Circle: A Pseudotreatise of Urbogony, by Gheorghe Sasarman. They were accompanied by the author’s daughter Anna and nephew Vlad.

Anna read a letter from the author; Ursula, Mariano, and Vlad read “Arapabad” in, respectively, English, Spanish, and Romanian, to a transfixed audience.

Publisher L. Timmel Duchamp attended the event. She describes it in m...

Free Fiction Monday — The Third Raven

On July 9th, my new novel, The Guardian Hound, is being published by Book View Cafe.

I AM SO EXCITED!

Ahem.

In the five weeks leading up to the novel release, I plan on publishing a short story a week, and having each available for free for that week. All the stories are about the world or somehow involved with The Guardian Hound and the raven clan.

I wrote this story, The Third Raven, in December 2011. When I was about halfway finished with it, I realized I had an entire world in my head and...

Escaping Stockholm: The Whole Enchilada

Our Blogmistress asked me to post this here, for those who may not have seen it yet, and for further discussion and reflection. I will be posting additions over the next few days or weeks, drawn from comments and suggestions here and elsewhere. This is a conversation that needs to continue, we think.

The original posts appeared in three parts and then in one long post on C.E. Murphy’s blog. Conversations continue there, as well, and Catie will be posting her own further reflections and respons...

Webcomics of Interest

(Picture from here.)

I follow about four hundred web comics. A bunch of them can be seen here.

Fortunately, the update schedule for most of these brings it down to about fifty or so a day. Is that a lot? Not sure. It takes me about forty-five minutes or less to get through them. Maybe I just read fast. Or, at least, read comics fast.

At any rate, I’m going to start a new subthread on this blog. I’m going to talk about certain webcomics that I follow.

One of the problems of webcomics is that there...

Story Inspiration Sunday

Today, I figured I’d turn back to one of my first loves, fashion.

I adore the way her skirt flares up, how like a bird she is, and yet, so powerful. Though she’s in black, and backlit, my first thought is, “how do I take such a being who is poised for evil and portray her as good”?

I think a lot about good and evil, and I write about it as well (though I try not to ever be preachy.) I think a lot about the stereotypes, how to play with them, and overcome them.

For example, this picture:

I love...

Free Cornish Army Redux

I had an unexpected email this week from a Free Cornish Army veteran. For those unaware of my teenage revolutionary past, you can read the full story of the FCA here. Yes, in the fun-loving 1970s, freedom of expression included the right for teenagers to seize the country next door, as long as they promised to give it back the next day, and donate all the money raised to charity. It’s a fun story covered in five posts. The other four posts can be found using this link.

One of my great regrets...

Stalking the Wild Muse: Writer Rituals & Habits

A series exploring the props, habits, and drugs that fuel the writer’s productivity. Past, present and future! Look for BVC writers, plus other authors we know and love.

By Brenda Clough

I’ve mentioned that generating ideas is quite different from generating words. Obviously, before you write, you need to have an idea to write about. My habit for writing is of the simplest; it is fueled by glucose and chocolate. The ideation phase is more subtle.

To think of What Happens Next, I need to go throu...