Integrity and ideas

As a beginning writer, I would occasionally think silly things like “I don’t have any ideas for what to write next! Maybe I’ll never have another story idea, ever!” That’s in the same category as when I broke up with a guy at age 18, and thought “I’ll never find anyone else to date, ever!”…

The best laid plans

The urban fantasy novel I’m working on started as a short story (ha) I wrote for a writing workshop taught by Dean Wesley Smith. The assignment was to write an urban fantasy story having something to do with “many worlds.” I was stumped. I kept thinking: urban fantasy means vampires, werewolves, zombies … creatures I’m…

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Formalized curiosity

I love this quote by Zora Neale Hurston: “Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.” Researching is one of the most enjoyable things about writing for me, but it’s also one of the most dangerous. It doesn’t sound dangerous, does it? Who wouldn’t want to research how mail order brides…