So many bands I don’t know. I remember when I thought country-western radio was the end-all, be-all of music, and electric guitars were retarded. –The exact moment. I was listening to “I’m gonna hire a wino” and watching Mom milk a cow in a red barn with peeling paint. The same barn and the same […]

Avoiding writing? Check out Christie’s listing of books and manuscripts for sale. Gogol’s Dead Souls. Nabokov’s The Luzhin Defense. A copy inscribed to his wife. Don’t even get me started on the art. See, I’m caught up on my word count. Nyaa…

I’m at 22K for my NaNoWriMo book, and my character has just gone through his absolute nadir. It’s been my worst–hardest, most hari-kiri inspiring–day of writing, too, although I got it all done for the day. Traditionally, your character’s worst (“black”) moment is supposed to come right before the big fight scene, and the hero

Careful. I had to watch them all at one sitting. (via Ann.)

My short story, “Fragile,” FKA “Things You Don’t Want,” has been rejected again, but in the nicest possible way: Thank you for submitting “Fragile” to ABYSS & APEX. As you know, we kept it for second round consideration but ultimately decided not to accept it for publication. The competition this month was strong and while

Someone on the PPW list asked for advice for a young writer. Here’s what I wrote back, because I liked it, and because I’m not likely to get anything else written today: Come to Write Brains! Read books on writing – lots of them, but not so many that you don’t read for pleasure and

Tracking election results is almost exactly the opposite of writing.

(Via Ian.) Meme time! What’s the first sentence of your NaNoWriMo novel? Slaughterhouse Jane starts like this: David threw down the rifle and ran.

Here’s me, writing longhand in a leather, unlined notebook (it smells so good), sitting in front of my computer and listening to random music while I’m writing. I have no idea what my wordcount is, but it’s five small pages and three small scenes so far. The theme is folk-influenced music in a minor key.

NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. My screen name is dknippling – if you care to add me as a buddy, feel free. Send me an e-mail with your name or drop it in comments if I can add you, too. Log lines welcome 🙂 The current title is Slaughterhouse Jane. The book’s a YA fantasy set in