Today’s Teaser Tuesday comes from the short story, “A Short Walk Home.” I don’t know why I even reacted; it was just a rustle, probably an opossum or raccoon. But I became newly aware I was beside a corn field, not soybeans, and I couldn’t see a thing in…
There are two reactions I get from pretty nearly all my beta readers and critique partners, regardless of the story:
“I don’t know exactly what your characters look like; don’t you ever describe them?”
and,
“Holy smokes, your action scenes are really detailed.”
These may be phrased in various ways, but the general gist is almost always there. And it’s a problem for me.
Today’s #TeaserTuesday comes from “Torrent,” a science fiction short story.
Merced… Mercen… What had been the word Captain Trafalgar used?
Do you mean to search for Mercedarians?
She answered in the affirmative.
Another short excerpt for #TeaserTuesday! This one’s from Shard & Shield, which is today’s project anyway.
Ariana sipped at her drink and traced a finger through the condensation on the table, drawing loose geometric designs. Idly she asked, “Did you know some ancient art includes winged men as icons of beauty? Not quite Ryuven, but wings, anyway.”
Another short excerpt for #TeaserTuesday!
I’m only flirting with the idea of #TeaserTuesday, but here’s a brief excerpt from Kitsune-Mochi. Let me know if you think #TeaserTuesday is a good idea, ‘kay?
My non-fiction project on training is coming out! And here’s the cover, in full, glorious color:
For the First Day of Kitsune, I’d like to share one of the oldest and most common folk stories about a kitsune. It’s a tale of a fox wife, similar to Western stories of fairy brides, and it features many of the key points in the kitsune legend.
It’s also a story the village girl Murame hears in Kitsune-Mochi, which prompts her to do some deep thinking….
Christmas is one of my favorite holidays — but it wasn’t exactly popular during Heian and Kamakura eras in Japan, for obvious reasons. So here on the blog we’re going to celebrate Twelve Days of Kitsune, and each post we’ll discover a new folk tale, period foods, or…
At one point in Shard & Shield, a character is waiting for his treason to be discovered. He knows it is only a matter of time before he is identified, seized, tortured, and executed, but in the meantime he must go about his daily business as if nothing is wrong, as if he fears nothing, as if his entire world does not hang by a Damoclean thread.
I might have researched and prepared for writing such a state by sending off a manuscript for consideration.
