The ‘enemy without a face’ is probably the hardest sort for a new writer to wrap his around. If you’ve been following along the recent blogs, I’ve been discussing a concept I developed to help you plot leaner, meaner, faster and cleaner. I call this concept, the Big Boss Troublemaker. Identify him/her/it? And smooth sailing. […]
Read MoreThe Truth About Introverts & Why the Quarantine is Hard on Us, Too
Introverts tend to get a bad rap. No, we are not ALL serial killers. Okay…known serial killers. They have to catch you first 😀 . Wait, where was I? Oh, yeah. So, first of all, far too many people equate introversion with social anxiety, when those are two totally different topics. One can actually be […]
Read MoreThe BBT: Meet the Big Boss Troublemaker & Brain Behind All Stories
Last post in our ‘Introduction to Writing’ series, we discussed how stories are namely a collision of IDEAS. I also introduced the core antagonist, what I call the BBT…or Big Boss Troublemaker. Sorry for the delay in posts. This quarantine has been…wow. Who knew March had 666 days? It’s like 2020 was doing just fine, then March […]
Read MoreIdeas Collide: Powerful Storms are the Center of All Great Stories
Every story begins with ideas. Alas, stories can only be created when at least two vastly different ideas collide. The place where these ideas meet is the BOOM, much like the weather. Storms erupt because two very different bodies of air meet…and don’t get along. Only one idea, however, can win. In the meantime, lots of metaphorical […]
Read MoreQuiet: Have We Forgotten to Be Still in a World That Never Stops?
Can I just get off? Please? Quiet. It’s a rather strange experience if one has grown too accustomed to the go-go-go pace of the modern world. Recently—well, not too recently—my grandfather died. I was raised by my grandparents, so when a week and a half before Christmas he suddenly passed away? It was a blow. […]
Read MoreStory Power: Why the Lecture? Why Can’t a Book Just Be a Book?
Story power. Human Power. Black Power. To me, story power, human power, female power, black power, et. al. are all trains that run along the same vast system of tracks known as ‘publishing.’ It’s why Black History Month is such a fantastic time to highlight authors of color, to maneuver otherwise fringe/invisible authors—schedule those ‘trains’—to […]
Read MoreThe Synopsis: Why Love Hurts & Pain Can Be Good for Our Writing
There is one word known to strike fear into the hearts of most writers. Synopsis. Most of us would rather perform brain surgery from space using a lemon zester and a squirrel than be forced to boil down our entire novel into one page. Yes one. But alas we need to embrace the synopsis for numerous reasons. […]
Read MoreBarnes & Noble Puts Literary Classics in Blackface for Black History Month
For those who might not know, in the United State, Black History Month is celebrated for the entire month of February. The point of dedicating an entire month is so we can bring focus to the works, art, history, and voices of a specific community within our vast and diverse nation. We can learn, grow, […]
Read MoreAmazon Past Prime: Why Major Retailers & Publishers are Going it Alone
Is Amazon past prime? I really can’t speak for all business fads, just ones American. Americans do love…business. What do we love more than business? Duh. A great business fad. Hey, we DID invent the forty-hour work week just so we could ignore it *hair flip*. As I mentioned in my December post Penguin SOLD: […]
Read MoreDon’t Advertise, PADvertise: Catch Readers With Their Pants Down
Book spam is so yesterday. Seems writers are always looking for some new way to advertise their books, which is fine…but some folks have gone more than a little bit cray-cray. I finally fled Twitter, by and large, because it’s next to impossible to locate real hoo-mans among all the automation. My email has pretty […]
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