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A funny writing exercise for you to browse through and begin the week with a smile. Evil Editor had folks come up with amusing, publishing-related terms that don’t really exist. Quite a few good ones that I think should be made official dictionary entries, like… Insuffishink – The inevitable condition…

Looks like another Weird News Weekend. First we’ve got people playing Find-the-Nuke. Then we’ve got authors whose inspiration for murder mysteries turned up a little too close to home. Now we’ve got scientists given permission to create hybrid embryos in order to harvest stem cells. http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/09/human-animal-em.html The basic idea is…

They say “write what you know.” But if you’ve ever actually killed anyone and gotten away with it, I suggest you don’t make that knowledge the centerpiece of your latest murder mystery novel. And if you do, I also suggest you don’t make the murder victim die in the exact…

Do they bother you? The realization that we can have nukes flying over our heads, and no one would know about it? And I don’t mean any kind of government cover up, either. I mean, No One Knew About It. Not even the people in charge, until after the fact.…

A quick point today in the direction of the Fantasy Book Critic blog, which does a stellar job of keeping abreast of speculative fiction books being currently released and reviewed, along with plenty of contests, interviews, artwork and a list of great author recommendations, which include quite a few of…

For those who write speculative fiction, especially, world building is a major part of the story. Some people have map, language charts and cultural layouts all ready before the start the first scene, while others make it up as they go along. Either way, here are some world-building principles (listed…

Since getting back into the loop of agent queries, I’ve had a few partials requested of some of my manuscripts. A nice step beyond just getting the queries themselves rejected, so hopefully, after some of these, I might get a full manuscript request. Either way, I’ve got my head stuck…

Enjoy the three-day weekend, everyone! The wife, puppy and I are off on a hike, soaking in something other than the wildlife found here in the concrete jungle. See you once the work week kicks in again. I see that smile.  Subscribe in a reader

The apartment has now been hit by buckets of paint. No doubt, I’m heady from the fumes and just don’t realize it. Ah well. This is one of our attempts to make a New York apartment feel more like a home. Most likely it’ll have to be converted back to…

I ran across this yesterday. A unique way of bringing a story to life. Afterworld lists itself as an immersive, multi-platform, sci-fi series. There are to be 130 episodes in season 1, and I’ve been through the first ten. The story starts with a man named Russell Shoemaker, who leaves…