Welcome to the Friday Feature of our Fantasy writers group, A Drift of Quills! We Quills get together once a month to chat up aspects of reading and writing. We’re returning to the topic of books we love best—and this will be something we revisit from time to time, because hello! we’re readers *and* writers. Being a writer (or an editor) changes the way one reads things. It’s not strictly for entertainment anymore, but how cool is it to do your favorite thing for work? Still, the quality of a book obviously affects enjoyment. For me to forget about the […]
Chocolate Fix: Cinnamon Toasties
There is a bag of chocolate chips in my pantry in severe danger of being exterminated. Or… I might break down and make a family favorite. Cinnamon Toasties. Now, they’re not 100% chocolate (I know, shocking isn’t it?) but they are just so darned good it’s hard to eat just one. And they have chocolate chips IN them. In the world of “almost chocolate,” these little items are hard to beat. And they’re ridiculously easy and quick to make. Always a bonus. photo by Boyd Lythgoe Once upon a time this recipe had no chocolate chips. It had raisins. You should […]
Picture This!
Welcome to the Friday Feature of the Fantasy writers group, A Drift of Quills! We Quills get together once a month to chat up aspects of reading and writing. This month we’re choosing a picture we think best represents some person, place or thing in one of our works. I don’t know about you, but I love seeing the pictures that have inspired my fellow authors in their writing. Sometimes their choices are surprising, and at others I nod my head madly and say yes, yes! So—wanna see what we’re envisioning? Read on! The character Crow, from my novel As the […]
Win a Copy of Scrivener
Here’s a deal I had to share with all the writers reading my blog… Out:Think Group is giving away a copy of Scrivener to five lucky winners. Scrivener, in case you haven’t heard of it, is the bomb-dot-com when it comes to writing. Novels, technical works, short stories, memoirs, blogging—you name it, Scrivener can handle it. Beautifully. Written by writers for writers, available for Mac, Windows, and Linux, I’ve waxed poetic about it before here, and a little bit (down toward the bottom of the post) here. The more I use Scrivener, the more I like love it. It organizes, helps outlining and/or storyboarding (or not!), formats manuscripts […]
Follow Me to AR Silverberry’s Digs!
Author AR Silverberry is interviewing me over on his blog as part of a series to introduce the authors of the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network. Here’s an excerpt: How do you approach crafting a novel? I sneak up on it and tackle it when it’s not looking! Actually, each of my novels has started with an idea—a scene, a character, a “what if.” I jot it down, let it burble around in the caverns of my imagination for a while, then add a little more. I tend to gravitate toward characters more than anything as a starting point, and fleshing them […]
The Freedom Conundrum
“The Freedom Conundrum…” Sounds like it could be the title of an exciting thriller, doesn’t it? (Must add it to my list of ideas!) It’s the first Friday of the month—and Independence Day, to boot! What better day for A Drift of Quills to talk about what freedom means to us individually and how the topic figures (or not!) in our novels? It’s not all about baseball and apple pie, though. Joining us today is guest poster, author Raymond Bolton. Please give him a warm welcome! RAYMOND BOLTONAuthor of Awakening: The Ydron Saga Vol. 1Raymond’s WebsiteFreedom is a difficult concept to wrap […]
I’m a Semi-Finalist!
As the Crow Flies is a semi-finalist in the Kindle Book Review’s 2014 Kindle Book Awards, Sci-Fi / Fantasy category! How exciting! The Top-5 Finalists in each category will be announced in September 2014. Good thing I’m not in the habit of chewing my nails… If you haven’t got one yet, be sure to pick up a copy of As the Crow Flies at any of these retailers: Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or iTunes.
Good, Clean Reading
This might come as a shock to you, but I love fantasy books (and movies!). There was a time when I could pick any fantasy book off the shelf and not have to worry about over-the-top violence and gore, sex, and foul language. I miss those days… All is not lost, though! The Fantasy & Science-Fiction Network (FSF Net) is dedicated to helping fans find the very best fantasy & sci-fi books for children and adults (both young and old) which do not exceed a PG-13 rating. On the website you will find author profiles, reviews, interviews, and various articles […]
The Series That Snuck Up On Me, Guest Post by William Hahn
Ladies and Jellybeans, Wonderful Readers, much to my delight we have author William Hahn joining us to talk about how he tackles (tackled?) writing a series. William taught Ancient-Medieval History for years, which wonderfully supports his journey into the realm of fantasy. He has written, in fact, an entire compendium about the lands in his novels—which is amazing bonus material for his readers and inspirational for those of us who write. Be sure you read through to the end of the post for a chance to enter a giveaway!Take it away, Will! I’m very pleased to be invited to address […]
Charles David Carpenter & D.W. Jones New Release!
Somehow Posting Day has snuck up on me. I’m not sure where the rest of the week went, though I do recall slaaaaaving away (Just kidding, L.A.) to update the author index and profiles over at the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network, to which I belong. Actually, it was fun reading about the other members of the group and adding their books to my collection the list. The group is growing fast, and I get to work with some fantastic folks. Be sure to check them out! And speaking of collecting more books to read, you might recall that I interviewed Charles David […]