Back Door into Magic
I’m not sure if this was something that is hard-wired in us humans or if it is something that we have acquired along the evolutionary path somewhere – and if so what possible advantage it gives us –...
View ArticleWhy Do We Bother?: The Quest for Accuracy
I posted something on Facebook the other day about some of the research I’ve been doing as I prepare to write the third Thieftaker book (under the name D.B. Jackson), City of Shades, which I’ve...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Symbolism Preliminaries
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I said we’d look at...
View ArticleAvoiding the Convenient Plot Point
I work with a writing student, who is in the midst of working on a compelling project that I know will turn out very well. Right now, though, she is struggling with some plotting, in a way that all of...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Imagery
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, we began looking at...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: World-Building Preliminaries
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I said we’d look at that...
View ArticleWriting and Revising
I’ve had some trouble starting a post for today, in large part because I am too absorbed in my current work-in-progress to focus on a blog post. And so I thought that I would turn the issues facing me...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: World-Building Specifics
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, we began looking at the...
View ArticleThree Authors Who Got Me Started
I am on the verge of finishing the manuscript of the third volume in my Thieftaker series (written as D. B. Jackson). The book is tentatively called City of Shades, and it will not see light of day...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Exposition Preliminaries
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I said that we’d begin...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Exposition Execution
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, we began with some theory...
View ArticleThe Book I Didn’t Write
Thieves’ Quarry, the second book in my Thieftaker Chronicles (which I write under the name D. B. Jackson) will be released by Tor Books a week from today. I’m excited, of course, and nervous as well....
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Cause and Effect
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I said that we’d look at...
View ArticleThe Little Details that Make Historical Fiction Come to Life
Thieves’ Quarry, the second book in the Thieftaker Chronicles, my historical urban fantasy series, set in pre-Revolutionary Boston, came out from Tor Books on July 2, and is now available from all...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Research
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I said we’d look at...
View ArticleA Quick Guide to Making the Most of Conventions
A week from now, two of the biggest conventions in American speculative fiction will begin. WorldCon opens in San Antonio on Thursday, August 29, and runs through Monday, September 2. The next day,...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Discipline
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I decided that we had...
View ArticleThoughts on Giving a Reading
Many years ago, when I was still new to the writing profession, I was put on programming at a DeepSouthCon. I was flattered, nervous, excited — but mostly nervous. In part, my anxiety stemmed from...
View ArticleThe Skill List Project: Comedy
This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I talked about...
View ArticleProfessional Comportment and What it Does For a Writer
First, let my apologize for the site difficulties we had recently. I had a post up about writerly fears that I removed when the site failed and moved to another blog. You can find that post here....
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