T.R. Goodman's Blog, page 5
January 1, 2014
Looking Ahead Into 2014: Goals for Writing and Life
Well, here we are again at the beginning of a new year. In what seemed to be little more than a few breaths, 2013 came and went in what for many in my life was a whirlwind of disasters. I’ve decided that 2014 is going to be different. Since everyone and their third grade […]
October 23, 2013
Book Review: Kitsune-Mochi by Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Kitsune-Mochi is the sequel to the short story Kitsune-Tsuki, and is the story of a group of kitsune (foxes) living as humans in the home of a daimyo (Japanese lord) and their struggle to protect him and his household from enemies both human and supernatural. While most of the events of Kitsune-Tsuki are alluded to […]
September 27, 2013
Evil Or Just Good-Looking: What Makes A Good Villain?
I don’t know about you, but I find that often the best-developed and most interesting character in a story is the villain. This seems odd in some ways; since the hero is the focus of the story and the POV through which we watch it unfold, shouldn’t he or she be the one that is […]
September 20, 2013
Abigail Abernathy Volume 2: The Inexplicable Expenditure Released!
The Inexplicable Expenditure, the second volume in The Tales of Abigail Abernathy, has officially been released! In this installment, a thief has infiltrated the offices of the Royel Trading Company. Somehow, he gained access to Abigail’s machine room and modified the company’s records in order to make off with hundreds of pounds of free fish. […]
September 12, 2013
Putting It All Together: Telling A Story Is Like a Jigsaw Puzzle
There are as many ways to write a story as there are writers. Some writers prefer to just sit down and start writing without any sort of plan, while others like to break down their novel into individual scenes and plot out the arcs, motivations, locations, and timeframe of each. Each method involves its […]
September 5, 2013
There and Back Again: 8 Tips for Writing Sequels
Last week, I published Abigail Abernathy: All-Night Analytical Engine Analyst as part of Joe Konrath’s 8 Hour Challenge. Several readers asked me to write more about Abigail and her misadventures at the Royel Trading Company, so I’ve decided to turn Abigail Abernathy into a series. Most of her new adventures will probably be short stories, […]
August 28, 2013
Abigail Abernathy and the 8 Hour eBook Challenge
In a blog post last week, JA Konrath posed a challenge to the writers who frequent his blog. It was based on a game that he played with himself to see if he could write, edit, design a cover for, and publish a short book in less than an hour. While drunk. Needless to […]
August 22, 2013
How Dune and Jillian Michaels Made Me A Better Writer
When I was a teenager, one of my favorite books was Dune by Frank Herbert. Even though I was still too young to fully understand some of the concepts in the book, there is one quote in particular that really stood out to me: I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is […]
August 15, 2013
Writing Through The Pain: 7 Ways to Write When You Don’t Feel Like It
Sometimes I get migraines. Once upon a time, I would get them two or three times a month, but thanks to aggressive treatment, that number is down to maybe once a month. If you have ever had a migraine, you are well aware of how debilitating they can be, and you also know that life […]
July 31, 2013
Book Review: The Last Colony by John Scalzi
John Perry and Jane Sagan, now married and retired from their life as soldiers in the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), have settled into new lives on the human colony Huckleberry with their daughter. Just as they finally manage to leave the war, politics, and bloodshed of their pasts behind, a former commanding officer arrives to [...]
