Revising, as I’ve mentioned, is really intense right now, so I’m making sure I take breaks whenever I need them. Today at midday, I decided I needed a walk to clear my head. However, it’s 41°F (5°C) outside today, a heat wave the likes of which I’ve apparently forgotten how to cope with; I put… Read more »
writing
Seabane Isn’t Real
Here’s a brief conversation between Katsa and Po in Graceling: Po looked puzzled. “What’s seabane?”“I don’t know if you have another name for it in Lienid. It’s a small purple flower. A woman who eats its leaves will not bear a child.” And here’s a line from Bitterblue: Bitterblue examined the item in her hand…. Read more »
New Year’s Dreaming
Bulgarian cover for Fire! Published by Emas, designed by Zlatina Zareva. Click to enbiggen! ——> ****** My dear nieces (accidentally and with great affection) gave me a Christmas present of a terrible cold in which my head was like a TARDIS of snot, so I’ve fallen behind in some things, including blogging. (The TARDIS, for… Read more »
Snowy Randutiae for a Sunday
Yesterday was one of those perfect winter days wherein the snow begins early in the day, but lightly – the five-flakes-per-minute variety – then slowly builds, and your own schedule brings you out into it while it’s beautiful but not yet gusty and difficult. I had a magical snow walk, then got home to a… Read more »
A Thank You to My Readers
Today I received a pile of fan letters in the mail, forwarded from my publisher, and I’ve just spent some time reading a few of them. This batch came from all over the United States; it came from Canada, Sweden, Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia, New Zealand… To answer a few questions that come up… Read more »
A Blog Post about Mastering Details in Bitterblue
Hi all! As promised, here’s a link to the blog post I wrote for the Fall Into Fantasy blog tour. I wrote about some of the funny questions I find myself needing answers to while writing fantasy. Like, what do you call a lord who’s been stripped of his title and property? And, can you… Read more »
On Writing: Dealing with “I Don’t Wanna”
Sometimes, while writing, instead of feeling like, “Gosh, this is really hard,” I feel like, “Holy hell. This is AGONIZING.” I expect this happens to most every writer. When it happens to me, I call it the I Don’t Wannas, because, as it gets to be time for me to sit my butt in the… Read more »
Writing Homework
Greetings from the back of beyond, dear readers. I love Deborah Kaplan‘s recent post called “Writing Homework for You, My Loyal Readers.” Last fall, Deborah and Amy Stern co-taught the fantasy course at Simmons College’s Center for the Study of Children’s Literature. After they’d started the semester, they realized what the opening assignment should have… Read more »
Current Work Breakdown, for Them That’s Interested
As I’ve mentioned recently, I’m revising a manuscript. Here’s a breakdown of what this revision tends to look like on a daily basis: For one hour or so, I reread and ponder the responses of my early readers and my own notes (as I blogged about recently). For maybe two or three hours, I look… Read more »
For Writers: A Quick Tip on Starting
When writing, there’s a danger in depending too much on preparation. Yes, preparation is important, but you’re not going to figure everything out about a writing project before you start it. Part of the point is that you figure it out while doing it. You’re planning a book, and you can’t figure out the solution… Read more »
