The internet is a tricky place. To me, it’s very much like a sorcerer’s castle filled with echo chambers and mirrors like the kind you’d find in a Robert E. Howard novel. Those who live in the castle often forget that the vast majority of folks out there aren’t in that keep as often as […]
Blog
Criticism Begins With A “C.” For Conversation.
There has been a lot of criticism aimed at the SFWA Bulletin in recent weeks that has now resulted in a task force. Laura Anne Gilman summarizes the issue on her blog and Jim C. Hines has a link list of the commentary. My take on this entire situation is very simple: criticism provides an […]
Soap, Old Dirt, and Mud
If you were to lean in, very closely, you will hear a deadly rattle as a few manuscripts emerge through a final round of revisions and proof corrections. Feels like I’ve shaped a cyber-golem out of nanite-mud and clay, and we’re about to release it into the wilds. As I emerge through this, though, I’ve […]
Perspectives Past and Present
I’m diving into alternate history storytelling for a magical world I took four years to build. Some of this has roots in world history and the way society evolved (or didn’t) in certain contexts. I’m taking the approach that to truly represent the scope of the story, I cannot just write one type of character […]
Look at this Post about eBook Sales and Writing Advice. Now Return to Me.
Tobias Buckell pens a brilliant post about Survivorship bias. Or, to put it in his words: Survivorship bias: why 90% of the advice about writing is bullshit right now. Read that. Then return, for I have more to add. First, those graphs? True of every online retailer on the internet. The graph is shaped differently […]