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Feminine Rage

Reading Time 8 Mins Read

A list of things NOT to do to your female characters. These are all real examples of things that I saw in two anonymous manuscripts shown to me by two anonymous misogynists. Both misogynists tried to explain to me how each and every point of sexism was okay in their case. Get ready for some spicy sweary fury because my heart rate is up and I am ready to let loose.

Trope: The Four(ish) Letter Word

Reading Time 8 Mins Read

If you had to guess what a religious/fantasy comedy, a classic regency romance, a space opera, and a teen vampire soap opera have in common, what would you say? Well if you’re smart, you’d say “trope” because I basically gave it away in the title. Specifically I mean Good Omens, Pride and Prejudice, The Empire Strikes Back, and Vampire Diaries. And also I mean a specific romance trope that most people are at least familiar with: enemies to lovers. That’s right, Crowley and Aziraphale, Elizabeth and Darcy, Han and Leia, and Damon and Elena all follow the same romance trope…

Wednesday

Reading Time 8 Mins Read

So I binged watched Wednesday yesterday… but I almost didn’t. In fact, if I’d had anything more interesting to do at all (or if I’d had any more energy… it’s been a very long holiday break), I would have stopped after episode one. Why? Because something about the show just didn’t sit right. And though the mystery and the beauty did keep me invested enough to continue, there was just something about the character herself that didn’t land.

The Village – A Romance

Reading Time 7 Mins Read

Who else here LOVED the movie, The Village (2004) by director M. Night Shyamalan? I am not a horror fan. Not even a little bit. So you may wonder why I loved this movie so much. Well that’s because it’s not a horror movie. It’s a romance masquerading as a horror movie. And I loooooove romance! And in particular, I loved the paring of Lucius and Ivy.

Piranesi – Book Review

Reading Time 2 Mins Read

Holy sweet baby Jesus I loved this book. It has been a long, long time since I sat down to read, and just got lost in the book. Even other books that I rate 5 stars, usually I have to make time to read. But not with Piranesi. I had to know what The House was. I had to know how Piranesi and the Other got there. I had to know what was going on. And with Piranesi’s innocent, articulate, reverent voice, it was a joy to find out.

Nettle and Bone – Book Review

Reading Time 5 Mins Read

Rating: Five Stars – I came for the bone dog; I stayed for the demon chicken. Well, I also stayed for the dust-wife, the lyrical voice, the imaginative characters, the small stakes (relatively speaking), the fantasy, the gray morals, and the fairy tale vibe. This book isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty damn good, folks.

An Enchantment of Ravens – Audiobook Review

Reading Time 5 Mins Read

Rating: Four Stars – A lush and original fairy tale – literally. This romance follows Isobel into the magical world of the Fair Ones, where she is has to basically handle a bunch of immortal toddlers, and it’s kind of awesome.

To Flashback or Not to Flashback

Reading Time 7 Mins Read

Oh, the flashback. That fickle bitch of a literary device. I promise you, every single creative writer in the history of the world has agonized over this very question at least once in their career: “Should I do this in a flashback or not?” I would say that most of the time, like 80% of the time, the answer is a resounding “Hell no.” Yes, I did just pull that statistic out of my ass. I’m basing that on the fact that in prep for writing this post, I struggled real hard trying to think of published books that used…

The Finisher – Audiobook Review

Reading Time 7 Mins Read

Rating: Four Stars – This is another hard one to rate. There were so many things about the writing style and the meandering plot that bothered me – a lot. But at the end of the day, I NEED to know what happens next!

Within These Wicked Walls – Audiobook Review

Reading Time 6 Mins Read

Rating: Three Stars – A lush, fantasy re-telling of Jane Eyre, what’s not to love about this one? And in the first half, I was all in. I wanted to know how the horrors were going to be resolved, I was loving the slow burn romance, but then… suddenly everything went blah.

The Sleeper and the Spindle – Audiobook Review

Reading Time 4 Mins Read

A quick and imaginative retelling of the classic fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty. This is a short story, and that heavily plays into my rating for this one. Because I’m not sure it would have held my attention much longer. But as it is, I can easily say that this story ended at the right time, and that’s a huge plus in my opinion.

The Ring – A True Story

Reading Time 5 Mins Read

I bought the ring for two dollars at a junk store in Pittsburgh. All in all, it was worth the two dollars. But I’m not sure it was worth the heartache. Let me just say, before we get too deep into this, that there is no deeper meaning to this story. There’s no allegory, no personal revelation. It’s just a cheap ring and the manic determination of the author who bought it.

Connecting the Dots

So this week I finished my hundredth rewatch (give or take a few) of Avatar The Last Airbender. Let me start by recommending this show to anyone who enjoys fantasy and adventure, because it’s a literal goldmine of story telling and character. But the thing I wanted to talk about today with ATLA is the way in which it connects all the dots so completely. It’s a story telling technique that I try to use in all my stories, and it’s one that even some trad pub novels occasionally overlook.

Redemption by Motherhood – Lady Featherington’s Mic Drop

Reading Time 5 Mins Read

I’m sure I’m not the only one out there who binged watched Netflix’s Bridgerton recently. I just finished my watch through last night, and there was a quote from Lady Featherington in the final episode of season two that really intrigued me.

Sisters – New Digital Art

Reading Time < 1 Min Read

I’ve completed my latest digital art, featuring Gwen and Josephine from Little Owl. This isn’t from any particular scene from the book, but I just wanted to paint something happy. This is how I picture the sisters hanging out when life is a little less exciting. These little slices of life are beautiful to look at and are certainly desirable for our day to day lives, but they don’t make very exciting fiction lol.

Adam’s Mom

Reading Time 2 Mins Read

The Adam Project took the time to really appreciate this underrated role of the grieving, single mother. Despite her low screen time, she’s not a placeholder. She’s a real character. And I don’t mean to be beat a dead horse here, but they accomplished it without having Ellie speak to a single other female character. Which I think is very cool. Because it is and always will be my stance that a woman doesn’t need another woman around to be a woman.

Coming Soon: The Glass Wheel

Reading Time 3 Mins Read

If you’ve been following me on social media, you probably already know I’ve started writing a new short story called The Glass Wheel. But I haven’t gotten into to much detail on those forums – mostly because it’s hard to get wordy on Instagram, lol. But now that my deadline is looming (March 13th!!), it’s time to start getting the word out for real!

Digital Art – Cael

Reading Time 2 Mins Read

Cael stood near the front door, his hat in his hands. Our farm hand, the one we’d taken on when we’d expanded into two new fields a few years before. He’d always been this distant, beautiful thing on the far side of the yard, a private daydream just for me. I used to watch him from this very window as he bundled up the flax to dry in tidy little towers, or stood staring at the sunset.

February Query Update

Reading Time < 1 Min Read

Well, as many of you know, I have begun querying Little Owl in earnest about two weeks ago. And let me tell you, it’s hell. Querying a novel is literally setting yourself up for daily rejection, but it’s the only way to get into traditional publishing. So I have to just do my best to stay positive and keep moving forward.

How to NOT Give Your Characters “Depth”

Reading Time 6 Mins Read

So we were doing a little brainstorming how to add a bit more oomph to her character, when she happened to Google it… just to see what comes up. And let me tell you, the results got me seeing red.

How Important is Setting in Romance?

Reading Time 4 Mins Read

Someone asked a question on Facebook today that really got me thinking. That’s what I love about online communities. They make me look at the various aspects of story telling in different, specific ways. I don’t think I have ever thought much about WHERE two characters get nasty, and therefore I’ve never thought much about why I haven’t thought about it. But when someone asked for ideas for “romantic locations for two characters to make love” today, I thought to myself, “Why haven’t I ever thought about the romantic setting?”

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