Not Writer’s Block

I imagine that The Dreaded writer’s block will always be waiting in the closet. Even when preparing posts for E3ink, I hit blank spots and rewrites. Writer’s block gets a lot of coverage, but after publishing Orchids Ablaze I discovered writer’s block wasn’t the only troll under the bed.  Even when the words are easy to find, a few things have been known to wake me in the middle of the night.

Continue reading “The Dreaded…” →

A Cornucopia

There are so many fantastic writers out there that it’s hard to select just a few that influence my writing. It’s a different list than the authors I most enjoy reading (and re-reading), though there is plenty of overlap. That list gets very long very quickly, especially since it encompasses more than 4 decades. When I was planning out what would become Orchids Ablaze, I looked to different authors for very specific reasons. I love Frank Herbert, but attempting a story as complex as The White Plague, much less Dune, didn’t seem to be a good idea for a first attempt. Robert A. Heinlein is another favorite that attempting to emulate appeared doomed to failure, at least for now. It’s good to have goals for the future!

I’ll keep trying to get there, of course. Given that Orchids Ablaze is most akin to a prose (superhero) comic book, I wanted to keep the length to what I felt would appeal to readers of the genre. I wasn’t trying to create the great American novel.  I wanted to create a story full of memorable characters that readers would want to read more about. I wanted to sweep the reader up and move right along.

Continue reading “Influential Writers” →

Never forget your stories

It’s the time of year for reflection as I wait to see if it will be a wet or white Christmas. Finishing up the old year and a new one just around the corner, my thoughts are headed farther back than than one year.

This year was the year we lost Stan Lee. Better words than mine from those who loved the man’s work and felt his influence have been spoken on his passing. He was an icon not only in the industry, but throughout media and around the world and in our own lives. Segue to… decades earlier and a visit to my grandparents. I wasn’t old enough yet to have learned to appreciate my grandparents (a flaw I was fortunate to have the chance to overcome), so I was roaming through their house. It wasn’t a very large house, but I was small and going room to room managed to occupy some time.

Enter The Box

Then I found: The Box. I’m certain many others have similar tales of discovery. The Box was half-hidden underneath a bed in a corner room. It was just an old cardboard box, not particularly sturdy. The sides bowed out and the top flaps had long been removed. I tugged it out a little. It only moved a little at a time because it was very heavy, but eventually I could peer into my new treasure chest to see what it held. A moldy wooden chest full of gold and jewels paled beside what I found within.

Continue reading “Roots” →