Writing and Editing
Imagine the scene: you’ve sat down to write, you’re trundling along through your scene, happy as a clam, when you run into a stumbling block. There’s something you realise you haven’t explained—about the world your story is set in, or your character’s backstory, or anything really—and you’re not sure you can proceed without saying at …
Gilead is many things to many people; terrifying, oppressive, safety, home, opportunity. In The Testaments, Margaret Attwood tells a story through three very different perspectives on the bleakly misogynistic Republic of Gilead. Agnes is a young woman raised in Gilead, devout and trusting, and maybe just a little confused by some of the messages she …
We live in a world of seemingly endless distractions, and it can be fantastic—whether you want to check out what your childhood best friend is up to on Instagram, look up some Pin-spiration for what to cook of an evening or catch up on the latest Twitter controversy, it’s all there right at our fingertips. …
Miles Halter, or ‘Pudge’ as he comes to be known, is headed to boarding school. Culver Creek, the school his father attended before him, is where Miles hopes to find… something. He isn’t entirely sure what. What he ends up finding, or who he ends up finding, is Alaska Young. She’s gorgeous, funny, terrifyingly smart …
We’re most of the way through November now, and Christmas is just a few weeks away. If you and your friends/family celebrate with gift-giving you might be starting to wonder what you’re going to get for some of the people in your life—I know I am! Luckily, books make great presents. Easy to wrap, they …
Continue reading "If They Liked… Book Recommendations for Gift Giving!"
The Stone Sky is the third book in N. K. Jemisin’s breathtaking Broken Earth trilogy, and while I’ll do my best to keep them to a minimum there will be some spoilers for book one (The Fifth Season) and book two (The Obelisk Gate). If you haven’t read those books already, you really truly should. …
and also, maybe, why you shouldn't... We’re almost halfway through November—how exactly did that happen?! And if you’re participating in NaNoWriMo you might be wondering why on earth you’re doing this to yourself. If you’re not participating this year, you might be wondering why on earth so many other people are choosing to do this …
‘Oh no!’ wailed the Trunk. ‘Oh no!’ It was full of Elephant thoughts, Elephant hopes, Elephant dreams, Elephant plans. Every moment, with every breath it took, it felt more and more Elephant. And the idea of creeping about without an Elephant head or body or legs was horrible. “The Trunk”, from “The Dreamfighter and other …
Continue reading "Book Review: The Dreamfighter and Other Creation Tales"
Industry professionals give them some major side-eye, readers confess to skipping them, but what if you feel like you need one? How do you know if a prologue is the right fit for your story? First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page (pun totally intended) about what a prologue is. A prologue …
Doctor Jean McClellan is stunned when the decision is made: women will no longer be allowed to speak more than 100 words per day. It’s just a small part of a broader movement, of course. Women are no longer to have jobs, girls at school are no longer taught to read or write, half of …
