Travel: Writing Research

That’s the dream, right? Pack the bags and fuck off to some far-away place for an indulgent period of time to write, research, absorb your surroundings, and write some more. If you’re like me, and I expect many of you are, you rarely get further than the closest convenient coffeehouse or bar. But still the […]

Behind the Story: The Complicated Journey of Madjack

On May 16th, Meerkat Press will release their eagerly awaited superhero anthology Behind the Mask. (It’s available for pre-order now and the advance reviews have been great and the table of contents boasts some exciting names.) This is particularly relevant to me because my Cobalt City story “Madjack” happens to be between those pages–a fact […]

Evolution of a Character: Gato Loco

I don’t know how other authors do it, but at least in my case, it’s uncommon for a character to leap fully-formed from brain to paper. I find that often times the character comes together in bits and pieces until they’re ready to be seen. And even then, they can continue to evolve over time. […]

Hell is a Parade

We have a parade that runs through the heart of my neighborhood every summer. For some, it’s a source of joy. For others, not so much. I got caught in it a few years ago and made the comment “Hell is a parade,” and a friend who is much smarter than me said I should […]

The Dark of the Year

It seems like it’s been a year since we’ve done this. It was, in point of fact, almost a year, since I sat here and looked back at the year that was and the year to come. The dark of the year provides a good opportunity for perspective, like standing on a high peak, the […]

Drawlloween Challenge 6-10

A continuation of the Drawlloween experiment. A short piece from what was originally an art prompt, each individual piece no more than 500 words. Fun-size, if you will. This was where things began to take a strange turn for me, where the daily exercises became something different. Parts 6-10 follow. Enjoy. 6 – Pumpkin The […]

Drawlloween Challenge – Parts 1-5

A challenge appeared on Tumblr a few weeks ago. Drawlloween. Intended as an artist prompt, to draw a little something from each of the 31 daily prompts through the month of October. I love Halloween. I consider October Halloween month. And while I do art on occasion, that’s way too ambitious for my limited skills. […]

Bookkeeping, a.k.a. Time is Never on Our Side

It was a pretty typical Saturday morning writing group–some writing, some socializing, some knocking ideas around. In discussing how some town names are more common than others, a story idea was born. Well, less an idea and more of a seed. A McGuffin. And when it was suggested that I write that story, sooner rather […]

Onward Ho Into 2015!

Well, it’s the end of the year again, and you know what that means. Yep. Buckle up, me hearties! It’s time for yet another look back at the year that was and some hints about the year to come. On a personal front, my daughter got married in August, meaning I got to wear a […]

On Writing Dialogue

“Shit. That’s not a job. That’s a hustle!” I love writing dialogue. It is, arguably, one of the the more finely honed skills in my writer’s tool box. Being able to bring characters to life with natural, unforced conversations, just makes me happy. The trick is to listen. It’s that simple. It’s that difficult. We’re social […]