The six are the Jane Austen canon — Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Emma. The following is my analysis of the six, in no particular order. Pride & Prejudice I first read Pride & Prejudice in high school and didn’t like it. I picked it up again when I was 25, at loose ends with my life, and a few months away from drawing stakes and moving from Read more…
My 2017 Writing Goals (and maybe they can help you too): Write even when– no, especially when– I’m tired or not feeling it, or think don’t have time. Commit to the story. I have too many novels and stories that have languished. The worst story ever completed is a thousand times better than the best fragment or chapter. Commit to the language. I used to say good writing should disappear in service to the story, but Read more…
This year at FenCon I took the lyric writing workshop held by Bill and Brenda Sutton. I have been wanting to explore songwriting for a while, but as I have no musical background or experience, that had to wait. FenCon offered the perfect opportunity to get into writing lyrics, which are similar to writing poetry but with cool things like refrains and bridges. None of which I actually used in my finished song, as you will Read more…