James Master's Blog, page 25
August 25, 2019
Victory is Sweet
When it comes to games, I’m pretty competitive. Of course, if you ask my nieces and nephews, they’ll tell you I’m ruthless. When playing Risk, I’ll backstab my allies. When playing Sorry, I’m not sorry. I don’t try to collect four of the same kind in the game of Spoons. I just pass cards and […]
July 16, 2019
The Social Writer: Blogging Platforms
Continuing with the series The Social Writer, this week I’ll be talking about blogging platforms. Now, last week I discussed why a writer might want to begin his/her own blog. Let’s say you decided to take my advice and start a blog. But then there’s a hitch: you don’t know what blogging platform to host […]
July 7, 2019
The Social Writer: The Art of the Blog
It takes amazing willpower to enter Barnes & Nobles without walking out a book. Apparently, I have absolutely no willpower because I left with three books. One of them was a book titled “Blogging for Writers: How Authors and Writers Build Successful Blogs” written by Robin Houghton. In my experience, as an author, social media […]
June 29, 2019
Writing is not Life
Writing is not life Around this time of year, I always contemplate about the past. For good reason too. Ten years ago, my wife and I were married. Four years ago, I graduated college. Three years ago, after a quick downward spiral my wife went to live in another state. One year ago, our […]
June 14, 2019
Happily ever after…
Guilty pleasures. We all have them, even if we don’t want to admit it. I mean, that’s sort of the point of guilty pleasures. One of mine is watching movies with really sad endings. Like, if you don’t tear up during the film then don’t bother making me watch it. Then, as part of the […]
June 12, 2019
Game of Thrones Season 1 Episode 1
For my first Book vs Film, I wanted to write something epic. Really kick off my entry into this series with something big and bold. With this in mind, I was sorting through my book collection and my eyes settled on George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones.” At first, I thought it was too big, […]
May 21, 2019
Story and Plot, part two
In last week’s MtC (that’s the working abbreviation for Mastering the Craft, just trying it out), I talked about the interwoven relationship between story and plot and how you can’t have one without the other. Sorta like that theme song to Married with Children. It isn’t absolutely required that you read last week’s MtC, but […]
May 15, 2019
Story and Plot, part one
If I had to define my writing style, I’d have to say that I’m a “pantser.” If you’ve never heard that term before, it means to write by the seat of your pants. If you’re still confused, it means to typically write without having things planned out. A “plotter” is someone that typically writes only […]
May 14, 2019
BvF #1: Girl, Interrupted
*Since the following Book vs Film does feature in-depth analysis, please be aware: Here there be spoilers* Over on my website, I posted, The Most Satisfying Read, that I had recently finished reading the book by Susanna Kaysen that spawned the movie Girl, Interrupted (1999). I knew that before doing that post that I wanted […]
May 13, 2019
L. Bachman
At a young age, L. Bachman started creating stories and art. This form of expression led to becoming a published author with the stories; Maxwell Demon, Human Ouija, and Harvest. She has also been included in several anthologies. In 2016, her short story, The Painting of Martel, was included in the anthology Painted Mayhem. Following its release, she was […]
