Category: Writing

Prompt: A Rainy Night in Dusseldorf

It was a rainy night in Dusseldorf, but then again, Mary imagined it was raining everywhere in the world. Growing up in London had that affect on people. Even tucked in the corner of her favorite German bakery, she found herself ignoring the steaming cup of tea and staring at the raindrops as they trickled down the glass windows outside the shop, disappearing from her vision behind trays of crullers and the red-painted letters on the window itself. The electric lanterns on the street gave the from of the bakery an eerie glow,as though something could happen all at once, […]

Posted March 2, 2012 in Writing // 12 Comments //

I can show you the world: shining, shimmering, splendid.

I love creating fantasy worlds. Maybe it’s a god-complex, but there is something empowering about building a universe, from climate to culture, with only the power of your mind. I think that was my favorite part of ‘Tweens, the novel I wrote last NaNoWriMo – the entire basis of the story was that there is a very real parallel fantasy world adjacent to our own world. I had so much fun flying with Lucy over the Forgotten Islands, fighting with Olive on the Giant Chess Board. Of course, there are rules. There are always rules. If there isn’t, then the […]

Posted February 27, 2012 in Writing // 3 Comments //

John Smith Goes to the Movies, and Other Pop Culture References.

One of the reasons I am so happily rooted in the idea of medieval-style fantasy is that outside of a small list of universally known guidelines, I make the rules. Sure, that means that when Jessica in Fate gets hungry, she can’t swing by McDonalds and grab a quick McDouble, but also puts me at ease – referencing name brands and labels, and items of pop culture can be tricky in writing. From what I understand, there are a few ways to go about it. 1.) Tactfully Writing a piece set in modern times, it’s difficult not to thrown your […]

Posted February 24, 2012 in Writing // 5 Comments //

Why I won’t self-publish, but won’t hate you if you do.

A friend of mine finished writing a book in her junior year of high school. She spent a little while querying agents, and after receiving a handful of rejections, she decided that her talent was not being appreciated and she decided to take a different route: self-publishing. Last spring, she had one-hundred books printed, and, as I understand it, managed to sell them all (to friends and family mostly). I was one of her proofreaders, and I had the good fortune to receive a free copy. I will say this for her writing: it’s not bad. She is an excellent […]

Posted February 17, 2012 in Writing // 10 Comments //

Procrastination is your friend!

Bear’s inspection sticker expired in August. Since September 10th, he’s been “living at large,” darting the cops in his muffler-broken, rusted-rockers, and every-single-dashboard-light-on Ford Explorer. This isn’t to say he hasn’t been looking for a new car… He’s been looking for five months. But that perfect one hasn’t popped up yet. And believe me, I can testify to the number of hours he has spent perusing Craigslist for something in his price range, as well as taking a peek at the local dealer’s here and there. The problem isn’t so much that there isn’t anything out there. In fact, I […]

Posted February 13, 2012 in Writing // 0 Comments //

Quirks and Quarks

As luck would have it, I’m not a science person and the only thing I can tell you about quarks is the Dictionary.com definition. There is an informative and interesting video by Hank Green about quarks that I have posted at the bottom of this post, which is worth a watch if you want to learn something in a fun and interesting way. You must be thinking: if she knows nothing about quarks, what in the world is this post about? I wanted to focus actually on that first word there – “quirks”. Everyone has quirks. They are what makes […]

Posted February 10, 2012 in Writing // 0 Comments //