Category Archives: Writing

Summer NaNo: Novel Cook Pot (anything is a writing prompt)

When you are a writer, anything is a writing prompt. There’s nothing quite so powerful as the arbitrary set of ingredients. I’ve used a very elaborate set of constraints (aka the Novel Cook Pot) for each year’s National Novel Writing … Continue reading

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Six Sentence Sunday, 6 May 2012 (The Reincarnations of Miss Anne)

There’s the motorized roar and the background roar of the sea.  There’s the greyed-out horizon, and the signs for the upcoming exits, Iceland coming up in a few hours and beyond that Denmark and Norway.   It’s a dream, of … Continue reading

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Flash fiction: Not advice, but support

Author’s note: In preparation for NaNoWriMo 2009, someone put up daily prompts on one of the forums. I did them in the spirit of warm-ups, but some of them turned into stories. Here is one such. Prompt: I’m not asking for your … Continue reading

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Doing the Beta Bop: What I get out of being a beta reader

One of the great things about beta reading other writers’ work is that it gets me out of myself and lets me leave my own stuff alone for a while. Now let’s get down to cases: most writers have a … Continue reading

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Six Sentence Sunday, 29 April 2012 (The Reincarnations of Miss Anne)

Charlotte didn’t know that Araminta fancied Scipio, and the other way round as well.  She didn’t know that Araminta knew by whom Sarah was pregnant and under what conditions.  She didn’t know the whispered conversations that the two sisters had … Continue reading

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Flash fiction: Expected

Author’s note: In preparation for NaNoWriMo 2009, someone put up daily prompts on one of the forums. I did them in the spirit of warm-ups, but some of them turned into stories. Here is one such. Prompt: “They said you’d … Continue reading

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Doing the Beta Bop: what I get from my beta-readers

Doing the Beta Bop Since I’ve been both giving and receiving beta-reading this year, I’ve been thinking a lot about the benefits. I’m going to explore this over a series of posts, including meditations on the mutual benefit of trading … Continue reading

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Six Sentence Sunday, 22 April 2012 (The Reincarnations of Miss Anne)

The womb and tomb are the only authorized entrance and exit, respectively, into the condition of a slave.  In particular, no manner of self-initiated egress is recognized.  Which in plain language means: you are not to run away, and if … Continue reading

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Flash fiction: A birthday of sorts

Author’s note: In preparation for NaNoWriMo 2009, someone put up daily prompts on one of the forums. I did them in the spirit of warm-ups, but some of them turned into stories. Here is one such. Prompt: It was a … Continue reading

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Genre Trouble: urban fantasy (the city as character)

My Brain Sister and Beta is currently reading my novella The Lost Pissarro. She had the following comments: “One of the things I thought was cool: it keeps in the spirit of urban fantasy because Minneapolis is a character. If … Continue reading

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