Point of View

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Point of View: Something’s Missing

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missing puzzle piece

I recently finished writing the second book in the River City Chronicles series, Down the River. Overall, I’m really happy with it – the storylines all wrapped up well, and the ending seemed perfect. Almost. Oh how I hate that word. Writing a novel is like putting together a 10,000 piece puzzle, blindfolded. Or maybe it’s like running in the dark, hoping not to hit anything, and trying your damndest to reach the finish line in perfect form by the deadline. I’d been careful to wrap up each of the major character’s storylines, and to spill all the secrets by … Read more

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Point of View: Diving Into the Past

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time travel - hands and clocks - deposit photos

You reach a certain point in your life, and the years you have behind you start to number more than the years you probably have left. This leads to introspection, and I am no exception to that rule. In recent days, I have found myself reflecting on my past a lot. No particular timeframe, just little memories that keep coming up in my mind. It may be because Mark and I have just started reading a new book in Italian by a fairly well-known author. We’ve previously read two of his fictional works, but this one is an autobiography. We’ve … Read more

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Point of View: A Character Experiment

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Characters - Deposit Photos

Characterization has long been my Achilles heel. I grew up reading, big idea science fiction and fantasy, and that’s what I always wanted to write. I had the big ideas, but when I first started my writing career, I didn’t know how to craft compelling characters. I’ve spent the last ten years working on it, using some helpful books filled with character exercises, making story Bibles to track my character info and helping me get inside their heads, and studying how compelling characters are created in books and other mediums. I’ve come a long way, but it’s still a challenge … Read more

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Point of View: Sac Anime!

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Booth Crew - Sac Anime Summer 2025

Just got back from a weekend selling books at Sac Anime, and wanted to share some of my fave cosplays and pics of us and the booth! First off, our merry crew: And the pretty pretty booth: And now onto the cosplay! Hope you enjoy this vicariously!

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Point of View: Road Trip Report

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I just got back last week from my road trip to WorldCon Seattle. I hadn’t initially intended to go – well, initially initially, yes. But because of the expense and distance and all that, I’d decided to cancel the trip a couple months ago. But since then, a few new writing-related things have happened, and so I changed my mind and headed to WorldCom to see what I could make happen there. Due to some sage advice from good friends, I made a concrete plan of things I wanted to accomplish, and figured out how to do each of them. … Read more

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Point of View: World Con Seattle

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road trip - deposit photos

Two more days to go. Tomorrow, I leave for WorldCon, and on Wednesday the whole shebang kicks off. It’s only my second time at this huge science fiction convention. The first time was before pandemic, in San Jose, California. Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready for it, and we only got to spend a day and a half there, with little to no advance prep. This time is different. While I decided to actually go a bit late, I had made preparations just in case. I will have a table in the dealer room for Liminal Fiction, and I am planning to … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: The Monster at the End of This Book

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The Monster at the End of This Book

Note: I got up this morning, having just finished writing the first draft of Down the River, and thought abut writing a column about The Monster at the End of This Book. Then a little part of my brain tickled me and said “didn’t you do this before?” Turns out I had, and this says exactly what I wanted to say. So I am resharing this column from 2021, with a slight update for my latest novel completion. Enjoy! When I was a kid, I had a few favorite picture books. At the top of the list was The Wump … Read more

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Point of View: Finding the Theme

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book magic - deposit photos - theme

Every story begins with something. Sometimes it’s an especially vivid image of a character that you want to write. Sometimes it’s a shiny plot object, the big idea that you want your whole story to revolve around. And sometimes it’s a theme. No matter where you start, the theme is an important part of your story. You are asking readers to buy into your view of the world, and that viewpoint should be about something. The tricky part is figuring out what that something is. For me, the theme is usually not apparent to me until I get partway or … Read more

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Point of View: Here We Go Again

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road trip - deposit photos

My husband Mark is an angel. I came into 2025 at a low point. I’d been searching for a job for fourteen months, and although I’d had a number of great interviews, the answer was a “no” every single time. Things worsened over the next few months, and two jobs I thought I had a great shot at faded away without even an interview. And then a few potentially really good things happened. I can’t share two of them yet – don’t want to scare them away. But suddenly my writer path has grown brighter after ten years in the … Read more

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Point of View: I’m Happiest When I’m Writing?

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unhappy writer - deposit photos

We writers are a strange and contradictory breed. Take the act of writing itself. When we’re not writing regularly, we can be sullen, morose, unhappy creatures. And yet, when we are writing… my husband would say “how can you tell the difference?” The actual act of writing can be exalting, even thrilling, as the strength of our ideas and our connection with our characters carries us forward like an unrelenting wave. But even then, we surf at our own peril. Because every wave eventually crashes. More often than not, writing is a long, boring grind. My writer brain has to … Read more