[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] I’ve been away from the internets for much of the past 10 days. My social media involvement has been close to nil. I get antsy when this happens. Perhaps the greatest reason is the fear of becoming irrelevant. Which is kind of funny because you have to be relevant first. And […]
[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] I thought I wanted to write fiction while in middle school. I continued to think that through high school. Then, in a fit of practicality, I decided to work towards a journalism degree in college. Three things weighed in my decision: 1. I couldn’t imagine anyone would want to read fiction
[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] Some writers have sacrificed their families and marriages, discarding them along with their empty rattling Wendy’s cups in a ditch on the road to publication. Others have defaced their bodily temples with amphetamines , cocaine and hallucinogenic drugs by the handfuls. Still others have forsook the entire human race to pour
The Ultimate Sacrifice Read Post »
[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] Spelling is a tool many fantasy writers use to lend originality to their writing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it distracts the reader from the story. I find myself getting caught up in this device, wondering if I should spell a word as it is commonly spelled or give it a
Magic, Magick, Magyck – Striving for Originality in Fantasy Read Post »
I’d like to blame the heat for my malaise, but I know that’s not really it. After approaching the halfway mark, I stalled out. I hadn’t expected it since I have a pretty good idea where everything is going, but there it was. I was having a hard time pressing forward. Some of it could
Beating the Middle of the Novel Slog Read Post »
I’ve only recently begun exploring the world of Jorge Luis Borges. What I’ve encountered so far has been wonderful. I went in search of Borges interviews on YouTube and found the one posted below. I’ve excerpted a few passages from the video that touched me: The task of art is to transform what is continuously
More than Just Pen and Ink Read Post »
[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] Responding to a comment here on the blog this morning (Thanks to Sarah Wedgbrow over at Folding Fields for jogging my memory), I was reminded of John Connolly‘s novel The Black Angel, the novel I was reading when I decided to write in earnest. Connolly’s story was dark and contained supernatural
Coffee Break No. 11 – John Connolly and The Seed of a Story Read Post »
[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] I just checked my post history and today marks a year to the day of my first blog post here at Words and Coffee. I’m not sure what I thought when I launched W&C beyond that I was entering a bit of flash fiction in Ken Scholes’s contest and I needed
A Year of Blogging Read Post »
[tweetmeme source=”jjdanz” only_single=false service=ht.ly] Paolo Bacigalupi reveals the secrets of his success: Voodoo and liquor. Just kidding, but he does provide insights into where he gets his story ideas and what he wants his stories to do. Bacigalupi also reads from two of his short stories. It’s about an hour, but it’s well worth the
Coffee Break No. 10 – Paolo Bacigalupi on AuthorsatGoogle Read Post »