Another week, another email (or two or three) in my inbox for upcoming writing seminars, courses, or retreats. Some are quick two-hour virtual workshops with guest agents/editors and live critiques that cost as little as fifteen bucks, while others are full-blown weeklong getaways to forested cabins or Irish villages that are much, much, ~much~ more…
Category: Journaralities
If You Can’t Be Resilient, Be Stubborn!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about quitting. Mostly that applies to running, but also (and I hate saying this out loud) to writing. I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, I want to discuss the running issue because it’s prominent in my life right now. And because it’s a useful metaphor for…
Can Writing Styles Go Out of Style?
I wrote a post last September about unexpectedly finding a long-lost book from my youth, The Grounding of Group 6 by Julian F. Thompson. I planned to re-read the book, some thirty-five years after I first read it, to see if the story and writing stood up to present-day standards. I finally finished it back…
Near Misses and Vanity Press Blues
Gather ‘round, my dears, as I tell you a tale of the time I came scarily close to accepting a job with a notorious vanity publisher. *cue horror music* I know, I know. If you’re a fellow writer, you must be appalled, and with good reason. I swear I didn’t understand at the time exactly…
Jack of All Fandoms
I’m sure you know the rest of the saying. Goodness knows it’s been floating around in the back of my mind a lot lately: Jack of all trades (fandoms), master of none. Simply put (if one can make a pithy quote even simpler), I’m a general fan of many speculative fiction properties, but I wouldn’t…
To Shelve or Not to Shelve that Manuscript
To shelve or not to shelve. Not only is that the question, but it’s a heartbreaking one. If you’re not familiar with the term, in author world, shelving a manuscript means the author has effectively called it quits on getting that project published. Sometimes, an author may shelve a near complete manuscript because they realize…
Horror Themes That Haunt Me
Spooky season isn’t spooky season if horror movies aren’t involved, right? To close out this fantastic month—and in the spirit of the grueling in-progress edits on my young adult horror novel, HUNGERS THE FOREST—I’d like to share my favorite horror sub-genres and themes, along with my top-rated movies from each one. Let’s get into it!…
Giving Life to Faulty Memories
What would you say is the best remedy for a faulty memory? A diary? A photo album? Home movies? Whatever it is you are currently reading this blog post on? You could make a solid argument for all of these, but today I want to talk about that last one. Or rather, something that you…
Incentivizing Pesky Writing Goals
Is it just me, or did summer in the northern hemisphere fly by? One moment, it’s June and I’m posting about my new tattoos, and the next, we’re into September. I planned to be MIA from my website for a couple of months, and I like to think you noticed my absence. No need to…
The Permanence of Tattoos and Tales
Raise your hand if you’ve ever taken a break from taking a break *raises hand* Yes, that was me last week, and especially over the weekend. I’m supposed to be on a lengthy social media break, but I felt the need to pop back in for a bit, despite the fact that I didn’t accomplish…
D.M. Domosea 