The one thing that I always loved Game of Thrones, especially the books, is the extent to which it had a clear-eyed and deeply cynical view of power. The key players in Westeros always knew the source of their strength. The Lannisters were rich and paid their debts. The Starks were loyal and held the […]
11th Annual Blog Bracket Challenge!
Come one, come all, it’s time for the 11th Annual Blog Bracket challenge!! Maybe I’ll finally win it this year… Probably not. Are you the best literary bracket picker of them all? As always, the winner of the Blog Bracket challenge will win a query critique or other agreed-upon prize. This year, by popular demand, […]
10th annual Heifer International fundraiser!
It’s our 10th annual Heifer fundraiser! This fundraiser is oriented toward multiplying the giving. All you have to do is help spread the word by: 1) Leaving a comment on this post (bonus points for sharing it so others hear about Heifer and leave their own comments). 2) Tweet a link to this post (http://bit.ly/2kgU071) […]
Will you ever buy mostly e-books? 2018 results!
Something interesting happened last year with the results of my annual e-books survey. For the first time in nearly ten years, more people saw themselves sticking with paper books for the long haul. Was it a blip on the path to e-book dominance? Are people reconsidering their allegiances given the ubiquity of screens and the persistence […]
Will you ever buy mostly e-books? (12th annual poll)
Here we are again, with my annual poll about our future e-book habits. If this poll were a child, it would be in middle school. Before I get to the poll, my usual caveats: Yes, I understand this isn’t a scientific poll Yes, it’s further unscientific-like to compare between years when my blog readership may […]
How to raise the stakes in a novel
Along with “show don’t tell” and “write in an original voice,” “raise the stakes” is one of the most oft-repeated and misunderstood bits of writing advice out there. What does “raising the stakes” literally mean? And how does one go about raising said stakes? What kind of stakes are we even talking about raising, tentpoles […]