sparks from a rainbow
Arisia 2019 was a veritable feast of writing workshops and reading recommendations. One of the most fun things I got out of it was a list I compiled of things readers (in a variety of panel audiences) were looking for that they don’t see enough of: 1 – protagonists who are moms 2 – female…
Continue ReadingThe Arisia schedule is bursting with relevant writing and reading panels this year, from “Female Relationships in Fiction” and “Where’s Our Fromance?” about why stories are less likely to show female friendships than male ones (and what we can do about this), to “Writing the Unseen: The Supernatural in Fiction” and “Embracing the Alien: Writing…
Continue ReadingI attended a writing workshop over the weekend led by someone trained in the Amherst Writers & Artists Method, which basically states that anyone can write, everyone is creative and unique, and we can all learn to improve through positive feedback alone. The workshop was a fascinating and respectful experience, with a great group of…
Continue ReadingHere’s what I like about publishing ebooks on Amazon: it’s so easy to update them! No matter how many times something has been seen, there’s always something unseen, some new issue to enjoy or to fix. I’m talking about typos, but I’m also talking about fonts, titles, summaries, and book covers. If I had to…
Continue ReadingMuch has been written about how fandoms facilitate friendships, but Build-A-Bear’s celebration of the 25th anniversary of Power Rangers reminded me of how friendships can define fandoms. Last year, in celebration of the 2017 Power Rangers movie, Build-A-Bear released a Pink Ranger bear and a Red Ranger bear, along with uniforms for the five original…
Continue ReadingWhy we shouldn’t use made-up history to excuse real life decisions: The Thermian Argument, (Youtube) Minisode by Folding Ideas. I very much enjoyed this as an exploration of what’s wrong with the argument, “This character’s attitude isn’t problematic because because it’s consistent with their backstory!” (When pointing out problematic elements in fictional stories, some fans…
Continue ReadingI attended a panel at Arisia a couple of years ago about empathy as a form of extrasensory perception (akin to telepathy or other psychic abilities). I remember being surprised when someone dressed in a PsiCorps cosplay from Babylon 5 walked into the room. I had seen this person around the con earlier, and while…
Continue ReadingI was approached by a publisher at the New England Authors Expo. As I’m not looking for a publisher, I wasn’t a very receptive audience, but I listened to their pitch and thanked them for their time. To be clear, this wasn’t a big name publisher offering to “advance” (loan) me a small amount of…
Continue ReadingI recently attended two local July events strongly associated with a verbally creative community: Readercon in Quincy, MA, and the New England Authors Expo in Danvers, MA. I was intrigued by the similarities and differences in both subject and tone, especially considering one is named for readers and the other for authors. It revealed a…
Continue ReadingI’m good at writing. I practice a lot. I don’t feel that I’m great at summarizing my writing, whether with teasers or blurbs or even a face-to-face description. I don’t feel that I’m great at designing covers, either, and although I know there are other people willing to do both those things for me (in…
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