The final book in the Siana’s War Trilogy, The Dreamer and the Dancer, is now published through Kindle and available on Amazon: This is the end of a long journey! I started brainstorming Siana’s War (book one) in 2003, based on some ideas gleaned from my childhood writings. I wrote Siana’s War and Princess of […]
The sequel to Siana’s War (published in 2022 through Amazon) is now published and available for purchase! View or purchase the sequel Princess of Time on Amazon Like Siana’s War, Princess of Time was written some time ago. My feelings about publishing the remainder of the series changed instantly when book one went live in […]
I’ve been to two writing conferences (the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association conferences in 2016 and 2017) but I’ve never done a “public-facing” event as an author. The first time will be on December 9th, 2023 at the first (ever) Downtown Issaquah Association Author’s Fair at the Issaquah Library. Having not done this kind of thing […]
So the big and obvious news is Siana’s War is published, or more accurately put Volume One of my Siana trilogy in published. It is available for purchase here: Siana’s War Kindle ebook version: https://rb.gy/lejrdpSiana’s War paperback version: https://rb.gy/z0s8m3 I am really excited to share a story that has been a huge part of my life for […]
As a writer I’ve hit a milestone: my first fiction publication (pending with Kindle as the image shows). So at this milestone, I’ll pause to summarize the journey (so far). Siana as a character was once Eolia, part of my imaginative life circa age 13. She wasn’t the most significant of my childhood writing ideas. […]
I find coming up with names for characters from scratch really difficult. Perhaps the most memorable name in sci-fi for me is Howdabeen Churry, from Sheri Tepper’s novel Raising the Stones. I’ve never forgotten that one! I don’t know how Ms. Tepper came up with so many weird and noteworthy names, but my process has […]
A lot of movies and stories have a guru or mentor character, Yoda of course being one of the stellar examples. The way Empire Strikes Back introduced Yoda was stellar: at first Luke thinks he is just a pesky, barely sentient Dagoba life form and he turns out to be the celebrated Jedi master. In […]
I’ve written in a prior blog that the *feel* of Lovecraft’s mythos (though none of his concrete details) was a huge influence on the world of my fantasy novel Siana’s War. But I added to that mythos a most un-Lovecraftian thing: a female protagonist, who has pluck, sass and a penchant for swear words. She […]
Is it cheating to use visual aids for writing? Absolutely not…a solid analogue being artists using live models to get correct anatomical proportions and realistic foreshortening. Here are three quick examples of my use of such aids in the writing of Siana’s War: I’ve had the character of Twilight, acrobatic warrior, kicking around in my head […]
There are lots of writing workshops about crafting a plot. Protagonists, nemeses, crises, moments of revelation and choice – and overall story arcs – are discussed. For better or worse, I didn’t think of any of those principles consciously when I began the task in late 2003 of turning a childhood short story into what […]