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Operation Tannenbaum - red cover with Nazi eagle, evergreen branch, blood spatters

A Short Story for the End of 2017 — For Charity

I have a new short story out for charity. Here’ s how it happened: I was driving along Tuesday night, musing that I wished I’d released one more thing this year — even though it’s been a good writing year for me — just so I could say I’d done twelve releases in twelve months. For the sheer symmetry of it. I also thought I should have planned ahead to do a charity fundraiser again.

And then I realized that I could put those two desires together.

https://youtu.be/KnR2AKnZ2Qo?t=16s

So I pulled out a short story with a Christmas theme, whipped up a quick cover, and we’re ready to go.A Short Story for the End of 2017 — For Charity

Giftmas 2017 Guest Post: Barbara Tomporowski

close up of ornaments on treeToday’s guest post comes from Barbara Tomporowski, for the 2017 Giftmas blog tour. Donations and raffle entry below!

Writing this Christmas blog post made me consider some difficult questions. Editor Rhonda Parrish, who organizes the annual Giftmas campaign to support the Edmonton Food Bank, chose “shine a light” as this year’s theme. She also asked each writer to consider “why I give” and “what I celebrate”, as well as “no capes!” to honour the people who quietly do things for us. At first, these questions seemed unrelated. What does “shine a light” mean during Christmas in Canada? Why do I give, both to this campaign, and to other causes?  And what have other people, those with “no capes”, given to me?Giftmas 2017 Guest Post: Barbara Tomporowski

Christmas table laid out for a meal

I Still Hate Spoilers.

Once, I answered the phone to hear a familiar voice tell me the end of a nine-book series. The caller knew I had finished the third book, with six to go.

Once, I suggested to a group I was staying with that we all go to see the latest Pixar film. They said no, but when I was in my room reading a book, they all left together for the theater without me. They returned in time for dinner, and while I asked that they not spoil the movie they’d gone to see without me, they spent the meal rehashing the story and retelling all the jokes.

Once, I got a message with an attached image of collected major spoilers for movies, shows, books. The message text was about how upset I’d be to get this.

Some people just get a sick enjoyment in ruining other people’s experiences. It’s the lingering inner kindergartner kicking over another kid’s block tower just to make him cry.

I hate spoilers, and that’s no secret. And while I try not to make a habit of hating people, I do hate the behavior of spoiling a story for someone.I Still Hate Spoilers.

greenery on mantle with Nativity scene, horse painting, and fire burning in fireplace

Sharing A Light: Giftmas Blog Tour

Giftmas 2017 fundraising blog tour

Today I’m joining Rhonda Parrish’s Giftmas blog tour! (You remember Rhonda? Editor of Fae, Scarecrow, Corvidae, Equus, Mrs. Claus, the alphabet anthologies, and more?) For ten days or so, fourteen writers will share seasonal thoughts to raise money for the Edmonton (Alberta) Food Bank.

Oh, and prizes. We’ll also share prizes. Because giving is a part of Giftmas.

Last year we raised over $500, so please, join us this year? All donations go directly to charity, nothing passes through grubby writer hands — and Americans get extra value, since donations are in Canadian dollars! ;-)Sharing A Light: Giftmas Blog Tour

shirts of various sizes and colors folded on wooden table

Swag Sale! Gifts for that dinosaur or kitsune lover and reader.

shirts of various sizes and colors folded on wooden table
sorting remaining inventory for shirts

We all have problems. I need space to store new cool things, and you need gifts for that tricky person on your list.

Here’s a deal that will win for everyone.

I’m running a holiday sale on my kitsune shirts and Cupcake the Dinosaur swag, along with signed paperbacks of your favorite titles for gift-giving. Best of all, I’m a ninja at packing flat-rate boxes — challenge me! — so it’s flat-rate shipping for you. Go ahead and buy an extra shirt or book for yourself, guilt-free.Swag Sale! Gifts for that dinosaur or kitsune lover and reader.

pile of pennies in foreground, a hovering RPG dragon figurine, and ranks of stacked silver coins

NaNoWriMo 2017 Wrap-Up

amulet with iridescent blue eye lying on wooden table, title The Poet's EyeSo another National Novel Writing Month has ended. (That’s the challenge when your writer friends curl up in a dark corner to pound out 50,000 words, or roughly The Great Gatsby, in the space of a month.)

This was the fastest NaNo ever for me, as I finished about halfway through November. (In this case it’s important to note that “finished” means I hit my 50,000 words, not that the novel is done. The novel is definitely not done.) I picked up an older idea that I’d started but set aside — but that title is probably not final, and that cover is definitely not final.NaNoWriMo 2017 Wrap-Up

Roof with solar panels beside leafless branches and trees with dead leaves.

When Solar Goes Bad: A Case Study

Apparently someone reposted an old 2015 story and gave it new legs, and my news feed has been full of reports regarding a rural town voting a moratorium on solar energy because the panels would, among other terrible effects, suck up all the sun and stop photosynthesis. I think you… When Solar Goes Bad: A Case Study

Sanjuro final duel, two samurai facing each other with spectators in background

Write Fights Right!

Sanjuro final duel, two samurai facing each other with spectators in background
If you’ve seen Sanjuro, you know this isn’t a still, but a playing video.

I love good fight scenes. In a story, I want to feel the action. In a film, I want tightly choreographed combat. It’s fine if it’s realistic (the long tension of Sanjuro‘s final duel, and we’ll just ignore the period blood effects), fake realistic (the bloody impact of Logan), crazy physics-defying martial arts (the alternate-world movement of The Matrix), or just plain fun (Captain America kicking Nazi tail). But lame action, the writer glossing over it or the director trying to fake it with shaky cam, makes me feel cheated.

So I try to write good action scenes. And most of the time I feel I do an okay job.

But I’ve been really struggling with one scene. It’s very short, an attempted bar fight which is over in under three seconds. But because it’s so fast, it’s hard to write; I don’t want to lose flow or add length with a lot of explanation, yet the physical actions are fairly complex. I’d been frustrated by this for an embarrassingly long time. So I called in an expert, Carla Hoch.

Write Fights Right!
Mrs. Claus - Not the Fairy Tale They Say

Celebrating 2017 — With Loot

list of handwritten creative ideas
I need a bigger fire for all my  irons.

We need to step back sometimes to be able to see the bigger picture.

I had been a little down on myself for not publishing as much as I’d wanted and being behind on my idea list. I have a beefy project list that feels like I’ll never catch up. (I wrote it out as an Idea Debt Inventory for a productivity lesson. Lemme tell ya, that’s simultaneously inspiring — look how much I can create! — and super-depressing.)

But then I started doing the math for this year, and wow, I’ve had a more productive year than I thought. No wonder I felt busy.

Celebrating 2017 — With Loot

Wrap-up for #Inktober 2017

Today is October 31st! That means two things:

  1. At midnight tonight, #NaNoWriMo starts.
  2. At midnight tonight, #Inktober ends.

This is the first year I’ve done Inktober, and I’m happy with the experiment. I had fun, I made some skill progress, I pushed myself, and apparently I pushed a few other people too, in a good way, as a couple of people have told me privately that they were inspired to try something new because of my Inktober posts — and I think that’s fantastic. Being authentic and trying to improve a non-existent skill was the original goal.Wrap-up for #Inktober 2017