The interior designer’s approach to story

I recently read a fascinating post on John Brown’s blog with an interesting exercise for analyzing the kinds of stories you most like to read.  By finding out what really turns you on in a story, you can have a much better idea what to write, and how to make your own stories better. He… Continue reading The interior designer’s approach to story

Another publication in Leading Edge!

That’s right!  My poem “Zarmina,” dedicated to Gliese 581 g (the first exoplanet discovered in its sun’s habitable zone) is published on page 98 of issue 61 of Leading Edge! Also included in this issue is an excellent essay by Brandon Sanderson, in which he introduces his second law of magic systems.  It’s an excellent… Continue reading Another publication in Leading Edge!

Wolverton interview and more

The interview with Dave Wolverton was a resounding success!  We had a fascinating conversation about science fiction and the gospel, his latest book In The Company of Angels, self-publishing, the English 318 class at BYU and the profound impact it’s had on the LDS writing community, and much, much more. On that, I suppose I… Continue reading Wolverton interview and more

T-minus 600 hours and counting

Haircut: check. Clean clothes: check. Bag lunch and dinner: check. Chilled water bottles: check. Directions to St George from Provo: check. Interview questions: check. iRiver 800 with sufficient recording space: check. iRiver to USB cord: check. Extra batteries: check. Asus netbook: check. 2003 Buick LeSabre Custom: check. 4+ hours of ocremix and other music: check.… Continue reading T-minus 600 hours and counting

Falling behind

Man, CONduit is at the end of this week, and I’ve still got a good 14k words to go in Mercenary Savior. Today, I only wrote 1,300 words.  I have no idea why my productivity has fallen so much, but it’s not good. It might not be a totally bad thing, though.  I’m having trouble… Continue reading Falling behind