(Yes, I know this is long. But I’m out of the country come Monday, so this makes up for no blog next week.) I love surprise endings. I enjoy reading them — nothing makes me feel more satisfied with the ending of a book or movie than a well executed twist — and because I [...]

(PRE-POST NOTE: There are lots more important things to blog about this week than what I prepared for today. But it takes me a long time to think about things until I’m satisfied with my conclusions and even longer to write them up in a way that makes sense to other people. So this is [...]

“I’ll tell you something,” said Francis, urgent with shoe-lace, “if we keep on saying things weren’t when we know perfectly well they were, we shall soon dish up any sort of chance of magic we may ever have had. When do you find people in books going on like that? They just say ‘This is [...]

(Happy Victoria Day long weekend! And happy birthday, cousin M!) What does it mean to say a story is “like fanfiction”? The phrase is almost always used with derogatory intent. No one says a TV show, movie, or book is like fanfiction to highlight its attractive qualities, even though there are many excellent fanfiction writers [...]

But first! Happy Easter to all you Christians out there! And for your brief edifitainment, the slightly thematically relevant difference between promos and TV shows: PROMO VOICEOVER: Next week, on House! When Princeton-Plainsboro turns into a hospital of revelations… HOUSE ON THE PROMO: I… have to tell you a secret. AUDIENCE:  Maybe he hooked up [...]

(But first, parts of  this made me smile. Warning: language, sexual and politically loaded themes) When I think of the differences between point-of-view in written media, like books, and visual media, like TV and movies, I tend to focus on person – what’s the cinematic equivalent of a story written from the point of view [...]

Disclaimer: any time a familiar story chooses to do an installment from the point of view of a character not the protagonist, I immediately and involuntarily compare it to the Pinky’s POV episode of Pinky and the Brain. You’ve been warned. *sigh* It’s about House again. Sort of. One of the major ways both the [...]

(But first, let me strongly recommend Leonard Mlodinow’s book The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Awesome.) Before I start these rambling musings inspired by James Cameron’s new movie, Avatar, I should give you two warnings. First, this is not a review of Avatar. It’s an opinion essay that uses the movie as an [...]

Hi everyone, As some of you may know, I’ve been working for the past few years on a young adult novel. As others of you may know, at the suggestion of my instructor from the Highlights Whole Novel Workshop this summer, I’m looking for readers. Although of course I welcome constructive criticism from everyone and [...]

Hi-ho, Kermit-the-blogger here on the scene of some of the most egregious dialogue diseases to strike  authors this year. Forget H1N1 – these strains are virulent and highly contagious. I also must note that a number of popular published stories  and many of my current works-in-progress have tested positive for these pathogens. So if your [...]