One of the hardest things I’ve had to figure out as a writer is how, exactly, do I manage to get a specific emotional response from the reader? To a certain extent, it’s the core of what this whole game is about, but rarely do you get anyone talking about Read more…
Wolfbreed gets a starred review in Publishers Weekly 7/13/09 Religion and political intrigue turn an adolescent werewolf into a killing machine in this compelling novel of 13th-century Northern Europe … Swann turns opposing viewpoints into sympathetic perspectives, clearly painting the complex political and religious dynamics of the time.
As an industry it embraces every new technology almost before its developed. It has leveraged every communications medium that mankind has developed. They were the first content providers to develop a business model for the internet. So, I ask you, why do we not see more SF about the porn Read more…
Here’s a quick thought that came to mind as far as writing believable villains go. I think everyone’s heard the idea that no one is a villain in their own story. However, how can you write a legitimately evil human being without making the person a caricature. I mean, the Read more…
Back in the day I did a lot of role-playing games, Champions, D&D, that sort of thing, both as a player and a gamemaster. In addition to being a geeky pursuit, it is also IMHO, another form of narrative. It’s influenced my writing a fair bit, and probably assisted in Read more…
UPDATE: Fixed dick quote attribution. I have mentioned before that there are certain rules that authors should abide by when gliding across this meadow of rainbows and unicorn farts we call the internet. It is not all smileys and lolcats out there, and forewarned is forearmed. Anyway, most rules boil Read more…
All in all the class yesterday was a success, I manged to avoid choking, and I actually interacted with human beings who did not exist when I started writing professionally. More important, I think I did manage to get a few things across. It helps that we had a smart Read more…
I’ve been invited to do a class for a bunch of kids on how to go about writing an action scene/sequence. Thought I’d use the blog to flesh out some of the ideas I want to get across. So here are some of the necessary elements of a successful action Read more…
There exists a certain type of incredibly sleazy male, the kind who has paleolithic attitudes about women that would embarrass the guy filming the Girls-Gone-Wild videos, but who at some point in his education, discovered that he got a complete pass on his repulsive personal antics as long as he Read more…
Without going too much into detail telling tales out of school, I jut got a pretty solid reminder that the economy is going real sour. I suspect a lot of writers are feeling it in one way or another, and not just in sales. Publishers are cutting back, and the Read more…