Category: Opinion

Schadenfreude is NOT Scary! #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

I’ve been a huge horror movie fan for a while, but there is one thing that always irked me about a certain ongoing trend in them. I was going to ignore it until I noticed that it was happening in suspense/thriller novels as well. Here’s the deal, everyone has seen these movies. The story starts off with a group of people. These people are … Read More Schadenfreude is NOT Scary! #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

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Just Start Over… #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

Hi Jim, I’m in a major bind… I was working on my latest piece. I’d been working on it for days and… forgot to save it. I was about 140 pages in and suddenly my computer blue-screened. I’ve lost everything and Word didn’t auto-save it. I’m not sure of what to do now. I feel like having to start from scratch is a fairly … Read More Just Start Over… #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

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Writing Strong Women #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

Hi Jim, I’ve read a couple of your books and have a question for you… I’ve noticed in your books that you write some pretty tough girls! It seems like you put more effort into the heroines than the heroes. I was wondering if you were a feminist? Thanks, Kelly Ugh… you know I try to avoid taking sides or being labelled one way … Read More Writing Strong Women #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

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The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate … Read More The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

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Internet Trolls… #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

Hi Jim, I’ve been writing for a while, mostly posting my stories on here, but also on Amazon Kindle. Unfortunately as of late, I’ve been getting a lot of rude comments and bad reviews left of my material that I’m pretty certain come from people who didn’t actually read my stories. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I also … Read More Internet Trolls… #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

No Permanent Death in Fantasy #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

This is something that has been irking me for some time now. It’s a recurrent theme in most fantasy fiction, in stories, comics, and in movies. No matter what happens in a fantasy universe, there is always a way to bring a character back. No matter what. If the character is popular, there will always be an incantation, or special portal, or some sort … Read More No Permanent Death in Fantasy #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

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Why Does Preachy/Safe Book and Movie Writing Fail So Badly? #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

Okay… I’m going to try to put a stop to this, because my focus on movie writing lately has taken my blog WAY off topic, almost to the point of Hollywood Advocacy, and it needs to stop. So hopefully this will be the end of it. However, there were some things that I needed to get off of my chest about the effects of … Read More Why Does Preachy/Safe Book and Movie Writing Fail So Badly? #Fantasy #Fiction #Advice

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The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate … Read More The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

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The Great Writing Morph #Writing #Author #Advice

I’ve been trying to figure out how I was going to write this post for a while. I get the question all the time; what’s the best piece of advice you’d give to an aspiring writer? Well, one piece, you all know. It’s my mathematical equation proving that you are in fact only up against one person when you’re trying to get your book … Read More The Great Writing Morph #Writing #Author #Advice

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Drakin Goodreads Giveaway!!! #writing #fantasy #SciFi #literature #Fiction

Hi all, In an effort to gain my new book some more exposure prior to it’s release, I have arranged for a free giveaway for a few copies of it’s prequel! Don’t miss out! Enter at GoodReads.com for your chance to win a free kindle copy of Drakin: The Orphans of Haven. Entries must be before May 27th! Drakin: The Orphans of Haven Book … Read More Drakin Goodreads Giveaway!!! #writing #fantasy #SciFi #literature #Fiction

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One word: Editing. #Writing #Author #Advice

Hi Jim, I have a manuscript I want to send out to see if I can get it published, but I’m worried that they’ll take one look at it, find a couple of grammatical/spelling errors and dump it in the garbage. I was wondering what measures you’ve taken and what you’ve done before you hand you’re book off to be published? Thanks,Mike Hi Mike, … Read More One word: Editing. #Writing #Author #Advice

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The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice

Okay, so it looks like I’m still getting a lot of publishing questions. These are recurrent questions I get on a regular basis, and while I want to try to respond to everyone who reaches out to me, I don’t want my blog becoming redundant. So I think I’m going to repost this on a weekly basis from now on to help people navigate … Read More The Ins and Outs of Publishing, A Directory of Advice. #Writing #Author #Advice