Happy Thanksgiving, Wordplayers! I’m taking this week off to focus on the things I’m grateful for in my life. Mostly just for fun, I thought I’d share a random list of some them: Wordplayers! This site, which keeps me learning and writing and thinking week after week, month after month, year after year. Beautiful, beautiful […]
December 14, 2020 by 27 Comments NewsTop 10 Writing Posts of 2020
What a year 2020 has been. As the beginning of a new decade, it felt momentous before it even started, but it still managed to shock the world. For me, as I’m sure for all of you, this past year has challenged me in ways I never expected. Since I work from home and live […]
October 19, 2020 by 363 Comments NewsBook Launch Day: Writing Your Story’s Theme!
Today I am officially launching my latest writing-craft book Writing Your Story’s Theme. Yay! This book has been such a passion project for me. When I started thinking about what writing-craft book I wanted to publish next, I realized my cornerstone writing guides have so far built on each other in a linear way, moving from […]
December 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment NewsIt’s Here! Dreamlander Audio Book
It’s my pleasure to announce, to all of you who have been waiting for it (for a really long time), that the audio book version of my portal fantasy Dreamlander is now available, narrated by C. J. McAllister. To date, I’ve produced audio versions of all my non-fiction writing-craft books, but this is my first foray […]
January 18, 2019 by 3 Comments NewsWho Won the Wayfarer-Launch Shopping Spree?
Thank you all so much for making the launch week of my new superhero-historical/gaslamp-fantasy novel Wayfarer a success. As always, your enthusiasm is what makes this all work! Thanks to you, the book jumped to #5 in Steampunk books on the American Amazon site. It’s also been great hearing from so many of you who have either finished […]
January 14, 2019 by 337 Comments NewsAnnouncing My Latest Novel: Wayfarer! (And Prizes!)
Today, I am officially launching my fifth novel Wayfarer. Hooray! If you’ve been following along on my journey with this book for the last several years, then you’ll recognize it as the one I keep referring to as my “historical superhero” novel. Set in 1820 London, it’s something I also like to cheekily think of as […]
December 25, 2017 by 33 Comments NewsWordplayers: Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas, Wordplayers! I hope you are enjoying a beautiful day with your families and loved ones today. For me, this is, above all, a holiday of Thanksgiving, in which I am given plentiful opportunities to remember God’s blessings of abundance in my life. A huge part of my life is this website and all […]
December 18, 2017 by 32 Comments How to Become a WriterTop 10 Writing Posts of 2017
We’re hurtling toward the end of the year, which means it’s time to hit pause, amidst all the winter festivities, and take a look back at 2017. For me, this has been a vastly different and vastly important year. As I talked about in the post “6 Lifestyle Changes You Can Make to Protect Creativity,” […]
December 11, 2017 by 72 Comments Writing LifeMy Top Books of 2017
When you’re a writer, stories are life. You can’t create them without ingesting them. That’s why Stephen King famously said: If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. That’s why this annual look back at my top books of 2017 is always one […]
October 2, 2017 by 429 Comments CharactersIntroducing the Creating Character Arcs Workbook!
All you need to create a solid story is a solid character arc. If you can do that, chances are good you’ve also written a book that will give readers a solid experience with story structure and theme. This is why the study and practical execution of character arcs has become one of my primary […]
