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Quiet is the Heart Full of Hope
My mother told my cousin something once, something that I’ve never forgotten: “When you try for something hard, don’t tell anyone.” We were in Taipei at the time, visiting relatives we hadn’t seen since my parents immigrated to the States when I was nearly 2 years old. My cousin — a bright, ambitious 15-year-old — was studying to get into one of the country’s most prestigious public senior high schools. Yes, in Taiwan, the best schools are public, not private, and everyone must take an entrance exam just to see if they’re good enough to be admitted. It’s like the SATs on steroids, and my cousin was burning the midnight oil…
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A small launch, but a launch nevertheless
This past week has been so crazy busy that I almost forgot to mention one small but significant launch of my own — I’m officially published! Huzzah! This week, the Undercurrents anthology launched on all bookselling platforms. Inside are 23 terrific short stories from authors ranging from New York Times bestselling authors Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, and Jody Lynn Nye to first-time authors — including a story of my own, one I didn’t even expect to write.
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Writing to “The End”
I cut my novel-writing teeth on NaNoWriMo, as I’m sure a lot of us have. Before that, I’d written short stories and poems galore, but had never actually attempted to finish a whole novel. (Starts, though … starts I had down pat. I’d started plenty of novels.) NaNo taught me how to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It taught me that no matter how busy the day got, I’d better put my butt in that chair and crank out some words — any words — or I could kiss my 50k goal goodbye. It taught me various and creative ways to triumph over my supernaturally strong Internal Editor and…
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“Writing Enchanting Prose” Workshop – Lessons Learned From David Farland
If you’ve never heard of fantasy author David Farland or taken one of his workshops, you may want to start Googling now. Or I’ll save you the trouble: visit My Story Doctor and sign up for one of his classes or workshops — particularly his “Writing Enchanting Prose” workshop, a 5-day intensive that he conducts live with a class of ~10 students. At the very least, sign up for his #WritingTips newsletter. It’s been 20 years since I last workshopped in a formal environment. While I loved earning my degree at UCSD’s literature and writing department and their courses were fantastic, Farland’s class was hands-down the best for practical application.…
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NaNoWriMo 2016 — Complete!
November wouldn’t be NaNoWriMo without the manic, 3-day rush at the end. #winnerwinnerchickendinner (Although, in my minor defense, I fell pretty sick the week of Thanksgiving while traveling to my in-laws’, hence the lengthy and embarrassingly visible plateau.)
