research, sky-diving style

I hate getting details wrong in my books. This may not be entirely apparent since I have more than once gotten details wrong in my books, but I really do a ton of research.  In Slayers: Friends and Traitors (due…

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As you may remember from your high school English class (you kept all of your notes on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, didn’t you?) Shakespeare invented around 1700 words in his plays and poems. Frankly, I think I should be allowed…

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As you may remember from your high school English class (youkept all of your notes on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, didn’t you?) Shakespeare inventedaround 1700 words in his plays and poems. Frankly, I think I should be allowed the same…

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Writing—it’s sort of like budgeting

Time and money never add up like I think they should. I’m always amazed at the amount of money my family spends. It seems like we should have lots of moeny left over at the end of the month, and yet we…

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The art of mothering during revisions part one

When I say there’s an art to mothering during revisions, the art I’m talking about is the equivalent of those modern art statues you see which resemble tangled coat hangers, or giant erasers, or someone’s pile of  recyclable milk cartons. You know…

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Hey fellow YABL (young adult book lovers) it’s time for me to clear my closet of some of my stash of books. Yep, keeping copies of 19 book titles has made several rooms in my house look like an episode…

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Creepiest kids’ toys

Okay, on first glance, cute pink-haired Lalaloopsy doesn’t seem creepy–that is unless you’ve read the book Coraline or seen the movie. Because the evil-scary-bad people have those exact same button eyes. Creepiest thing ever! (Shudders just thinking about it.) Don’t…

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New Year’s Writing Resolutions

It’s that time when we all start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. I’ve come up with ten writing goals. I might be able to keep nine of them. 1) Learn how to spell hors d’oeuvres so I don’t have to…

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Saphira vs Tamerlane

Every once in awhile someone asks me why I made the dragons in Slayers vicious animals instead of magical best friends. It’s not that I don’t like the friendly, loyal dragons from Eragon. If I was allowed to have one…

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