State of the WIP Address

I’ve obliquely shared about my current WIP, through posts about protagonist change-ups, essays on world building in general, meditations where I work through some of the book’s major themes, and self-imposed deadlines (none of which I have met, but all of which have moved me closer to the end goal). Now that the end of […]

Delayed Gratification is Good for the Soul

“Delayed gratification is good for the soul.” One of my college friends said that frequently, and I took it to heart, saying it even more frequently during my four years of undergrad. So frequently, in fact, that one of my best friends was pretty done with the phrase at one point: “If I hear that […]

A New Year’s Fast

Every January, my husband and I make it a tradition to stay off social media as we plan and begin to pursue our goals for the new year. The break is always refreshing, and it’s always surprising to me in the first few days how often my fingers itch for Facebook and must be told […]

Lessons from NaNoWriMo 2018

50,000 words in one month… This is the challenge of NaNoWriMo. This was my first year trying it, and I won! It feels like an accomplishment. As many will tell you, NaNoWriMo’s place at the start of the holiday season can make it challenging to complete those 50,000 words (1,667 words a day average). What […]

Radio Silence for NaNoWriMo

I’ve had so much fun talking about what makes protagonists NOT work for me for the past few weeks. I just had to use my last blog post of October to complete my musings on protagonists, so I’m taking this first blog post of November to say that I’m taking the rest of November off. […]

Protagonist Pet Peeves: The “Pretty” Protagonist

“I am too skinny.” “My hair is a curly mess.” “My hair is too straight. It hangs limply on my shoulders, no body to speak of.” “I hate my freckles.” “My feet are too big.” “Too pale.” “Too dark.” “I hate my knees.” “I wish my hair were blonde/shiny/naturally curled like [insert minor character here].” […]

How to Know You’ve Picked the Wrong Main Character

When I came up with an idea for a new book, I had the main character (we’ll call her… #1) from my shelved novel as the only protagonist I had ever considered for anything, ever. I was used to #1: familiar with her voice, her foibles, her overall character arc. I also love her, as […]

What Fantasy Authors Can Learn from Beowulf

“If You Want to Write Fantasy, Stop Reading It.” That was the title of a post I wrote a couple years ago for Faith & Fantasy Alliance. (You can read it here now.) Despite the clickbait title, I don’t believe fantasy authors should discontinue reading fantasy: for one, it’s important to keep up with developments […]

Things that Have Changed my Life in 2018

After my last two fairly “heavy” posts, I thought I’d follow with something fluffier—more of a personal update rather than an analytical essay (but I have some great ones coming up, let me tell ya)! Here are a few things I’m LOVING this year. Time. After a prolonged season of financial strain and working several jobs […]

Author Interview: World Building with Janeen Ippolito

Brandon Sanderson calls world building — or the creation of an alternate world and its cultures, history, and practices — the “vegetables” of speculative fiction. World building is necessary and good for healthy speculative fiction. But no one wants the ins and outs of the world you’ve created crammed down their throats constantly. You have […]