On Managing To Stress Over… Fan Mail

I’ve been thinking about fan mail a lot recently. When I knew I’d be blogging here, I figured maybe I could write something about it. I worried that fan mail wasn’t relevant to emerging authors, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt there were parallels, some right at the heart of……

Writer’s Craft #9: The Blurb

It’s a weekday night and there’s a message in my e-mail from the publicist at Edge, the marvelous and energetic Janice Shoults, asking me for a “back of the book blurb” for my up-coming novel Healer’s Sword. She wants it yesterday (literally, I should check my e-mail more often), so I dash one off: “Love……

Clarion Call #8: Star Hound

What does the phrase “star hound” call to mind?  Don’t think too hard; don’t judge; just write until the words stop, and share the results. Feel free to go back and look at older prompts, as well; you are more than welcome to try your hand at the “expired” ones if you find them interesting. ……

Spec Tech: Finding Your Way Through Space

Let’s say you are blindfolded and taken across the universe. You wake up in your sophisticated spaceship in some unknown corner of the cosmos…where are you? Is there any way to tell? Perhaps more realistically, if you are navigating your craft through the galaxy, how don’t you get lost? Bearings The first thing to do……

Writer’s Craft #8: How Much to Craft the Draft?

Writer Kristin Janz (http://www.kristinjanz.com/) wonders whether it’s better to write a first draft as quickly as possible, without thinking about revision until you’ve reached an ending point, or whether it’s better to painstakingly get each paragraph and scene as right as possible the first time. “I’ve experimented with extreme examples of each style, and I’m……