• Ready, set, action!

    May 5, 2012 /

    I’m working on the new first chapter for Blood Winter. One of the issues is how fast to get into the action. It used to be that you could get into action after a few pages or even a chapter.…

  • A day of perspective

    May 3, 2012 /

    So a lot of stuff is going on in my life, including a nasty head cold. But today perspective arrived. I’ve a friend who is several years younger than me. She’s had a significant bout with breast cancer and it…

  • The end is nigh

    May 1, 2012 /

    Tomorrow is the end of the semester. Well, except for Saturday’s graduation and the two theses I have to read and hand back to students for revision. They are a bit (a lot) last minute, so I’ll be spending some…

  • and the cold came back

    April 27, 2012 /

    We’re under a winter storm watch. Again. I don’t think we’ll actually get snow, but it had to come the night before the girlie’s birthday party. To which people have still not RSVPed, so I don’t even know if anyone…

  • mythical birds

    April 25, 2012 /

    I spent some of yesterday and today researching mythical birds. I have this scene in mind where they do an Alfred Hitchcockian sort of attack on *name redacted*. I have this picture in one book of the perfect birds. But…

  • The beat goes on

    April 23, 2012 /

    Today I’ve been trying to think up magical problems. Specifically, really big magical problems. And I’d be more specific, but that would mean spoilers. The problem is thinking up the right magical problem for the characters and situation and that…

  • Murder board

    April 21, 2012 /

    As I mentioned previously, I’m working on doing some replotting Blood Winter. Well, not all of it needs to be replotted, though the back half is going to change according to how the front half changes. Yeah, I like to…

  • Plotting

    April 19, 2012 /

    Some of you will remember that I have a big whiteboard that I use for keeping track of characters, making notes, plotting, and whatever I happen to need in terms of writing. It’s freestanding and I can flip it over…

  • A really good book

    April 17, 2012 /

    I don’t have a lot of time to read anymore, and worse, the time I have I sometimes (frequently) squander. A few months ago I got an ARC of a book by an online friend of mine. I was buried…