Amy Laurens's Blog, page 62
June 27, 2018
How To Theme: Conclusion
Welcome to How To Theme, chapters posting Tuesday/Thursday weekly, available now in print, in ebook, and on Amazon. All chapters are also up on Patreon, including the bonus information on genre-specific themes that’s in the final book, but won’t be appearing here on the blog.
Theme.
Hopefully, now that you’ve read this book, it’s no longer the scary or confusing word it once was. You know what a theme is (the point that a story is making about how we should live our lives), you k...
June 25, 2018
How To Theme: Chapter Twelve – Why Stories? Empathy
Welcome to How To Theme, chapters posting Tuesday/Thursday weekly, available now in print, in ebook, and on Amazon. All chapters are also up on Patreon, including the bonus information on genre-specific themes that’s in the final book, but won’t be appearing here on the blog.
Strangely, though, what it seems that stories most have the power to do is make us better people.
It’s true that stories, particularly group narratives, can have tremendously negative impacts (c...
June 24, 2018
Made It Monday: Yup, it’s cake again.
Welcome to #MadeItMonday, where I post something I’ve made in the previous week, and where you can join in and post something you made too! The rules are easy: post a pic somewhere of something you’ve made in the last week (ish; let’s say in the last month as the hard-and-fast) and tag it. Sit back and enjoy scrolling through all the beautiful things we’ve collectively created, and celebrate the fact that humans can be awesome! 
June 21, 2018
The Word You’re Looking For Is… LITERARY DRUG DEALER
Message from a friend the other day who just learned I write books ‘n’ stuff… :’D
From now on, I’m owning my new identity. If anyone asks me what I do for a living, I’ll tell them straight out: I’m a literary drug dealer. (Bonus points, this fits both writing AND English teaching!! :’D)
Thanks, Anonymous Friend. You made my day.
June 20, 2018
How To Theme: Chapter Eleven – Why Stories? Power Structures
Welcome to How To Theme, chapters posting Tuesday/Thursday weekly, available now in print, in ebook, and on Amazon. All chapters are also up on Patreon, including the bonus information on genre-specific themes that’s in the final book, but won’t be appearing here on the blog.
Chapter Eleven: Social/Power Structures
In all of this, there may be some interesting things going on with our background psychology. Some monkey scientists (as in scientists who study monkeys, not, you know, unusua...
June 19, 2018
Humanity Sucks, But There IS Good News
I don’t know about you, but I’m fairly well drowning in Weltschmerz this week (of the unironic kind). Humanity really just does seem to suck, constantly finding new ways to disappoint where values like empathy, compassion and mercy are concerned. Honestly, becoming a hermit is a super appealing (and super privileged) option right now.
So, in an effort to abate the storm, I went on a hunt for good news stories, evidence that while The Powers That Be and many Plain Ordinary Folk seem to be just...
June 18, 2018
How To Theme: Chapter Ten – Why Stories? Social Co-operation
Welcome to How To Theme, chapters posting Tuesday/Thursday weekly, available now in print, in ebook, and on Amazon. All chapters are also up on Patreon, including the bonus information on genre-specific themes that’s in the final book, but won’t be appearing here on the blog.
Which segues nicely into our third point: that stories foster social cooperation.
The act of telling a story implies an audience, someone to have the story told to, especially in the case...
June 17, 2018
Made It Monday: Bread (Includes Recipe!)
Welcome to #MadeItMonday, where I post something I’ve made in the previous week, and where you can join in and post something you made too! The rules are easy: post a pic somewhere of something you’ve made in the last week (ish; let’s say in the last month as the hard-and-fast) and tag it. Sit back and enjoy scrolling through all the beautiful things we’ve collectively created, and celebrate the fact that humans can be awesome!
June 13, 2018
How To Theme: Chapter Nine – Why Stories? Memory Aids
Welcome to How To Theme, chapters posting Tuesday/Thursday weekly, available now in print, in ebook, and on Amazon. All chapters are also up on Patreon, including the bonus information on genre-specific themes that’s in the final book, but won’t be appearing here on the blog.
Chapter Nine: Memory Aids
This idea of matching our observations to patterns we already know is actually a very important part of learning; in teacher training, for example, we’re constantly reminded to link new conte...
June 12, 2018
When Worlds Collide (Sanctuary #3) Cover Reveeeeeeeaaaaaaalll!!!!
ERMAGERSH, SO PRETTY. *hearty eyes*.
Blurb will be out sometime this week or next, and once I have a blurb, DO YOU KNOW WHAT I CAN DO?!?! YES. THAT’S RIGHT. PRE-ORDERS. The book itself will be out August 22/23 (depending on your continent). Woo hoo!!
Expect a post about that some time next week :3 YAY!!
In the meantime, you too can spend all your free time staring lovely at this cover, which I totally have not been doing since I got it on the weekend… O:)
PS The amazing Clare made the cov...
