I recently watched a TED talks video, Amy Cuddy’s “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.” As a teacher, I understand the dynamics of body language. I read my students’ body language all the time and modify my approach to match or alter their attitudes so the class runs smoothly and achieves my intended goals…
No story goes along smoothly for the main character. In fact, how a character responds to adversity is how we get attached to the people in the novels we love. If they don’t struggle to get what they need, we won’t want to read to the end. There are innumerable ways for conflict to occur…
Find at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble & more. So you have some story or novel planning to do. You’re feeling a bit pressed for time or pressed with concern for writer’s block. Try a classic story line and build your story around it. A. A table has been dropped by your character’s house….
My hard drive crashed at the start of February. It was not pleasant, but this is what I had done that made losing some of my hard work far from heartbreaking. I had backed up all my files in September on an external drive. Should have done it more often than that, but I wasn’t…
I have had several rules over the years that have served me very well. One rule is that if I have a goal, I should never stop pursuing it. No excuses. This rule has a kissing cousin that follows the same determination just replace “goal” with “habit.” It is my belief that once you turn…
mixing it up in SF genres One of the really difficult things I have found about writing SF is that there are so many subgenres. I have been doing research so I can be certain which one(s) I fall into. After reviewing the various sites that explain SF subgenres, I sat down to list the…
I write time travel novels, and one of the features that stands out when a character travels in time is fitting in with the culture. That includes clothing, behavior, hair styles, social interaction and such. Since my characters move about in time, I have had to research to make sure that Mick is wearing the…
Branch of the family tree, okay vine. Often when I read science fiction, the main characters and certainly the supporting and stock characters rarely have family. I don’t mean they don’t ever have family, but family is not the cause of change or action in them. Family is window decoration in most novels. Yet family…
