I received feedback on one of my manuscripts from an author. She said the pacing at the beginning was too slow. It had been an issue during earlier drafts and I had thought I had resolved it to my satisfaction. I do not immediately agree with feedback from an agent and I don’t believe you…
Like the classic joke goes, “In comedy, timing is… … …everything.” I’m reading the last in the Shadowmarch tetralogy by Tad Williams, SHADOWHEART. It’s a less than stellar name and most people don’t know that a four-book series is a tetralogy1, but Tad Williams is the reason I write fantasy–the reason2. So we’re going to…
Empire Strikes Back is my least favorite of the Star Wars trilogy1. This is heresy among accepted Star Wars fandom, but it is the way it is. You can rattle off the various elements of the movie that make it better than the others, a richer universe, more defined characters, a darker/grittier edge to it,…
I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been struggling on voice with JEHOVAH’S HITLIST. It’s not so much struggling as I can’t find it. It’s struggling in that I keep changing my mind, so the narrative text is horribly inconsistent. Here’s where I’ve been flipping. Take a nice classic rural drawl. Change of to a, drop the…
Things on JEHOVAH’S HITLIST slowed down for a couple weeks. It occurred to me that I was fast approaching maximum word count and the pacing was too slow. I also was bored as a writer, which means I’ll probably be bored as a reader. I pushed through what I had and sped things up. That…
Fantasy characters are dicks. In fiction, in D&D adventures, anywhere “adventurer” is available as a life choice, people are dicks. You see it all the time. Main character meets Douchebag McAsshole and DMcA immediately starts talking down to him. I’m a wizard. I’m a barbarian. I don’t bow before anyone. I don’t show any semblance…
I’m hanging out at Midas while my windows are fixed so my car can pass inspection. I’m posting from my phone, so please pardon the typos. The Pre has a small keyboard and I have fat thumbs. I tried to begin revision on THE TRIAD SOCIETY today, but I felt compelled to continue with JEHOVAH’S…