Craft, process, research and news from the desk. How the books get made.
This is my first summer break as a middle school teacher, and I feel like I’ve been dropped into a strangely quiet writer’s limbo. My current daily routine looks something like this: I set goals each day, and I write. Then I edit, then I write. I go down a massive research rabbit hole for…
Just when you think things are going well… bam. The water splashes, the boat rocks, and you’re suddenly scrambling to figure out what to do next. That is what writing a novel is like. Honestly, it is what life is like, too. We all love a good schedule. But today’s reflection is about what happens…
Last week, my mother-in-law came to town and treated my little family to a beach vacation in Myrtle Beach. We spent plenty of time enjoying the waves, but my favorite moments happened when I got my kayak and camera out. After doing some research, I quickly identified a salt marsh where I could paddle around…
One of the biggest traps a writer can fall into is believing that their work needs to be incredible the first time around. That’s the kind of thinking where writer’s block is born. Today I officially started a full week off of work, and boy, did I hit the ground running. Yesterday, I sat down…
Do you ever mix up the sounds and letters in words while you’re talking? Because I do. And it feels like I do it a lot. It’s actually become a running joke in my inner circles because I also write a lot, and words are my thing. You know? Indiana Jones has a hat, Popeye…
There are about seven hundred sixty-two moments a day where I stop and think, “hey, that would make a good blog. I should write about it.” Of course, seven hundred sixty of them get fizzled out within a minute or two, but a couple remain by the end of the day. Lately, I take those…
Worry not! I’m still alive. 😉 Words are getting written, too. It’s been a massive adjustment over the last six months—starting a job teaching, moving to South Carolina, raising my little baby boy. It adds up. Life gets busy. Fortunately, I feel like writing has already become a core piece of who I am. Even…
The idea of historical fantasy can feel like a paradox. Fantasy is all about wild, magical worlds full of imagination. History is founded on facts meticulously pieced together over years of study. One plays with and changes facts, while the other fixes them in place. Yet, as opposite as they are, the two can intertwine…
Tag Along – Discovering the Hanger Sword Join me as I research hanging swords in an effort to increase my writing ability Regardless of how you feel about weapons, you have to admit—they do a fantastic job spicing up life. Think about it: even the most mundane situations become exciting when a weapon enters the…
Today marks my 48th daily weekday post in a row—and it’s my last. It has been a good run, and I’ve enjoyed the challenge, but it’s time to pivot. Instead of writing a post every weekday, I’m going to be spending more time on editing, crafting, and researching a single weekly post every Wednesday. I’ve…