The Charmed Life (and Tragic End) of James Tiptree Jr.

There are lots of young, liberated female sci-fi authors out there who feel they are breaking down boundaries in a male-dominated field. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many certifiably insane people are responsible for getting the world of Sci-Fi and Fantasy literature into the awful mess it’s in today, and James was aContinue reading “The Charmed Life (and Tragic End) of James Tiptree Jr.”

The 10 Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned in 17 Years of Writing

1. If you wrote yesterday, write again today. This is the mindset I’ve settled on over many years of hearing “write every day” so many times. It puts an emphasis on yesterday, which is of crucial importance: It makes you feel like you’re not writing today because you didn’t write yesterday. That puts the impetusContinue reading “The 10 Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned in 17 Years of Writing”

How Do Writers Come Up With Their Ideas? – The Noun Game

Welcome to the natural continuation of my previous post, and an earlier post about ideation–and the very value of ideas. The question of focus for this series is perhaps authors’ most classic axe to grind: “Where do authors come up with their ideas?” In my last post, I made it clear I’m not here toContinue reading “How Do Writers Come Up With Their Ideas? – The Noun Game”

The Sandman: Calliope the Muse – Where Do Ideas Come From?

It’s the age-old question: Where do writers get their ideas? This presents a nice opportunity to continue our exploration of Sandman tales, which I still cherish very much despite the recent allegations. (And if you stay tuned, I think I might have a pretty good answer to this age-old question myself.) We first meet CalliopeContinue reading “The Sandman: Calliope the Muse – Where Do Ideas Come From?”

I Somehow Forgot That Writing Is Fun

I overheard folks conversing about how they use AI for just about everything these days. Need to write a proposal? A blog post? Need a software mockup? Chuck it to AI and pretend you’re the genius who created it. You could tell they were profit-minded, business types. And they made fun of people who believeContinue reading “I Somehow Forgot That Writing Is Fun”

The Opinions You’re Not Allowed to Have

I recently saw a blog where every time the author posted an article, he’d get the few same usual yes-men agreeing with everything he had to say. Clearly, he was preaching to the choir. One day he was fed up, driven to the point of saying something like, “A jest, a barb! Any kind ofContinue reading “The Opinions You’re Not Allowed to Have”

Sandman: The Tale of Hob Gadling

Ah, the dawn of the nineties. Beginning of a brand new decade. Life was exciting back then, wasn’t it? No one quite knew what to expect. We seemed to get three mini-eras during that time: Sandman got its start in 1989 right alongside Tim Burton’s Batman, and both had that darker, edgier feel that would later becomeContinue reading “Sandman: The Tale of Hob Gadling”

A Bit About Neil Gaiman

After my Brandon Sanderson article went unexpectedly viral (parabolic compared to my usual traffic here), a few friends asked if I’d be making a similar post about Neil Gaiman. The answer was no. And that’s partly because I don’t typically write about the hot topics currently buzzing on social media, no matter how much trafficContinue reading “A Bit About Neil Gaiman”

Frieren Took Me By Surprise 8: Villain

Let’s take another look at the quote that opened the entire show: “At the northernmost end of this continent, I arrived at the place that the people of this world call Heaven; Aurele, the land where souls rest. “Many souls gather there, and I spoke with friends who once fought alongside me.” -Flamme, the LegendaryContinue reading “Frieren Took Me By Surprise 8: Villain”

Frieren Took Me By Surprise 7: Demons

Frieren Understands the Nature of Good and Evil Many have written about this particular subject, and for good reason. Frieren‘s handling of demons is perhaps the single most interesting and groundbreaking aspect of this show. Let’s revisit that Tolkien quote one more time: “It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep theContinue reading “Frieren Took Me By Surprise 7: Demons”