Tag: reading
-
Live Reading and Other News – May 2026
Go to page: Live Reading and Other News – May 2026Event I’m one of the featured readers at this month’s Two Hour Transport! This is a remote event held on Zoom. The first hour, starting at 6 PM PST (9 PM EST) is open mic, where attendants can read if they want to, usually for about 5 minutes each. Log in a little early if…
-
News and Updates – October 2025
Go to page: News and Updates – October 2025Happy Autumn, everybody! News I recently returned from my first ever overseas trip! We went to the UK, and got quite sick almost immediately. Despite feeling like ass for most of the trip, we have no regrets. Very glad we went. I was a little luckier than my husband in that The Thing lasted longer…
-
News and Updates – July 2025
Go to page: News and Updates – July 2025News Well, it’s been a minute. That’s primarily because I don’t really want to make up something to talk about every month, nor do I expect you fine, discerning people care if I update monthly. Although, presumably, you want to hear from me sometimes, or why are you on this list? So, here’s what’s going…
-
Reading as Craft
Go to page: Reading as CraftI love books about the craft of writing. They’re like candy. I don’t take every piece of advice as gospel, just like I don’t eat black licorice. I discard the things I don’t agree with, or don’t think will work for me, but I am willing to try techniques that I have doubts about, just…
-
Reading Helps
Go to page: Reading HelpsAs I talked about back at the beginning of 2024, nothing consoles and comforts me like fiction. It doesn’t have to be happy fiction. It doesn’t even have to be one of the genres, like science fiction and fantasy, that people call “escapist.” After all, it’s all escapist by its nature – it’s fiction. Since…
-
The Expanse of Grief
Go to page: The Expanse of GriefI recently finished the last book in The Expanse series, by James S.A. Corey, and my heart is so full of these books. Because I’d already seen the television series, I often knew the broad strokes of the events in the first six books before they happened. But I was still engrossed by the deeper…
-
A Fantasy Author Considers Mystery (and Crime!)
Go to page: A Fantasy Author Considers Mystery (and Crime!)One of these days, I’m going to write polished, well-crafted essays, complete with a premise, coherent arguments, and a satisfying conclusion. Today is not that day. Instead, what we have here is a semi-coherent collection of thoughts I’ve been dwelling on that almost starts with a premise — that there are some definable stylistic differences…
-
Weightless
Go to page: WeightlessNo, I am not floating around in zero-G, though that might be fun. Today I’d like to talk about Weightless Books. This is the portal I’ve used for subscribing to genre magazines for years now, in preference to Amazon or any other venue, expect perhaps Patreon. I should have written this sooner, because, as I…
-
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
Go to page: A Swim in a Pond in the RainI recently took advantage of Gotham Writer’s annual Open House, and signed up for a session on fiction writing with author Susan Breen. It was excellent, but it’s not actually what I want to talk about today. During the course of the session, somebody asked about short fiction, and Breen recommended a book by George…
-
I should not feel inclined to begin my work
Go to page: I should not feel inclined to begin my workI’ve been here. I know this is Proust’s protagonist speaking, and not the author himself, but it’s hard to imagine that Proust never experienced what I suspect is a universal pattern: No need to write tonight because I’m going to write all day tomorrow. Well, that didn’t go well. I probably need some time to…