S.L. Armstrong's Blog, page 36

Vampires Are Last Season, Right?

Wrong. With our impending release of Rachmaninoff in December, I thought I might use today's blog entry to discuss vampires. Yes, vampires. I have been told time and again that vampires are done to death. I have been told time and again that if I did write vampires, I should put a unique spin on [...]

The Craft of Writing IV: Commas, Semicolons, and Colons

The Craft of Writing IV: Commas, Semicolons, and Colons (or Not Just For Smilies Anymore) This particular post was inspired by my reading of a self-published book recently that—though the author stated they'd used proofreaders and a line editor—was riddled with comma and punctuation errors that distracted me entirely from the content of the book. [...]

State of Things

I think everyone should read this post. I shouldn't be awake. Gods, I shouldn't be. It's 6am. I've been 'awake' since 1am, though I didn't admit it and get up until 2am. Around 5am, I sliced my foot open on some wayward stealth!glass on the kitchen floor (badly enough that there was a trail of [...]

Guest Blogger Chris Kelly On Flashbacks!

My Five Rules of Flashbacks This is the first stop on my blog tour, and whilst I'm here I'm exceedingly lucky to have another fantastic author guest posting on my blog. When you're finished browsing this fantastic blog, head over to my home on Dun Scaith to browse John Robert Lewis's theory of steampunk. It's [...]

Just How Important Is Sex?

I recently thought about our initial release, The Keeper, and it's appeal to readers. It's 35,000 words long with only one true sex scene, and that sex scene contains no penetration. I still feel the book is beautiful and sensual, and adding any additional sex scenes would have ruined the pace and feel of the [...]

Re-Issue of "Morningstar" in e!

The Craft of Writing post that usually appears on Fridays is postponed until Saturday. Instead, I want to talk about an unexpected release. Back in 2005 or so, I wrote a short story (just below 19,000 words in length) called Morningstar. I published it through Lulu and was desperately disappointed with the outcome (I will [...]

The Pains of Editing

Editing. The bane of my existence. I hate doing it. Hate it with a passion. Still, it's one of the most important things to do. I don't tend to consciously self-edit. In fact, I write it once and that's it, unless a rewrite is called for later. I don't like editing myself, mainly because I've [...:]

The Craft of Writing III: Point of View

The Craft of Writing III: Point of View (or I Am He As You Are He As You Are Me and We Are All Together) Point of view is probably one of the most important decisions you'll make about your story. Point of view dictates whose eyes the reader sees the story unfold through. Sometimes, [...:]

Mania Was My Friend Tonight

I fall into the same category as many writers and artists. I have rapid cycling Bipolar I disorder along with a healthy dose of borderline personality disorder. I'm not medicated except to treat the insomnia. This was a huge choice for us back when I was diagnosed. I'd tried various medications: zoloft, paxil, prozac, depakote, [...:]

Virginity: An Obsession

Virginity. That's something I've heard discussed a lot in my chosen genre to write in. Mainly in the heterosexual romances, not so much in the M/M section. I think that says a lot, doesn't it? We'll get to that eventually, but right now, I want to tell you how this blog entry came to be. [...:]