a personal journey with National Novel Writing Month — Embarking on the journey of creating a novel is like setting sail on an uncharted sea, armed with nothing but a pen, paper, and one’s imagination. Well over thirteen years ago, I attempted Nanowrimo for the first time with nothing more than an idea and a used Alphasmart typewriter I…

How to Use Descriptive Writing to Bring Your Story to Life — As authors, we are the sorcerers who weave tales, the architects of imaginary worlds. Our mission is to transport readers to distant lands, to make them see and experience the story as if they were living it. But how do we accomplish this feat? …

A Retrospective of Living Through the Beginning of Covid-19 — In late 2020, I joined a writing challenge where we were to talk about our experiences during the start of the 2020 pandemic. I wrote this essay and then tucked it in a drawer. This subject was simply too raw for me to publish back then. At the start of…

Tips for Creating Compelling Protagonists and Antagonists — Ah, the world of fiction, where our characters come to life and take us on journeys through their triumphs and tribulations. As authors, we hold the power to mold these characters to captivate readers and keep them turning pages late into the night. How do we do this feat? To…

It’s all in the conversation…. — Have you ever been reading a book and the dialog just feels…off? Like the characters are speaking in stilted, unrealistic ways that don’t match how real people talk? As a writer, it can be tough to create convincing dialog, keeping readers engaged and invested in your story. But fear not…

I had no idea you'd written about our panels here on Medium. It was a pleasure to work with you both at Indie Author Day and at LosCon! A good moderator is a treasure once you find him/her. :) LOL I look forward to seeing you back at Indie Author Day this year.

Writing Tips to Help You Become a Better Author — Crafting a compelling story that keeps readers engaged from beginning to end is not easy. Using a few techniques in your toolbox, you can create a page-turner that readers won’t be able to put down. First off, we have the classic technique of outlining. Now, I know some of you…

an intuitive method to develop titles without using AI — During the days when novels were only available in print and publishing houses held a monopoly, a book title was often chosen by the publisher and not the author. The title would be short, easy to fit on the cover and the spine of the book, and would be something…

a random mix of three haiku style poems — Poems come at odd moments. Most of mine take the form of scifaiku, a sibling of English language style haiku. These three were all previously published in a one-shot zine called AnaConZine in June of 2023. It was published by Amateur Press Association (APA) editor Heath Row and assisted by…