That Penultimate-Minded, War-Inducing, Trendy Punctuation Mark, The Oxford Comma Begs the Question, “Why so serious?”

The Oxford comma has many names, such as serial comma, series comma and the terminal comma. Terminal. Serial. These words conjure grave images in my mind and they are of the utmost serious kind. And for both pro- or anti-Oxford comma camps, it is a serious matter, indeed. 🙂 You may have noticed that I …

Sometimes I Read Slow, Sometimes I Read Quick

Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. Like most music I took a fancy to, my older brothers had introduced them to me. Back in the 90s …

Microfiction Monday: The Sound of Silence?

Sometimes Twitter surprises me with potentially inspiring tweets. Like this one: I love J.K. Rowling's reply: I'm more of an ambivertly (is that even a word -- it is NOW) inclined introvert and the stigma we get for our desire for solitude, reflection, and peace of mind is unfair. Introverts and extroverts shouldn't be in …

Inspirational Quotes in Honor of Women’s History Month

POC in Pub Writers and Illustrators of Color Mentorship Program!

Last year, I had applied for . . . and I'm pleased to announce that I've been selected to participate in the inaugural POC in Pub Writers and Illustators of Color Mentorship Program! POC Objective is clear and straightforward: "The People of Color in Publishing Writers and Illustrators Mentorship Program is an opportunity for writers …

Motivation Monday Quotes

Writing a chapter a day keeps the voices at bay. -Yours Truly/Ou vrèman Writers often joke about how their characters talk to them, threaten them, plead with them to spend time with them and write, write, write. I especially appreciate what George R.R. Martin has to say about the strange and intimate relationship between writers …

2018 Year-End Reflection – Menu Style – Let’s Start Celebrating!

Pixabay Free Images First, thank you for visiting! 🙂 It's good to be back! Lately, I've been spending more time with my family, settling myself in a new-ish job, polishing a YA novel I've been working on for months (getting ready for #PitchWars), and writing the first draft of an adult fantasy with an erotic …

Epigraphs? How to Increase the Depth and Tension of Your Fantasy World

An epigraph is a short quotation or saying at the beginning of a book or chapter, intended to suggest its theme. Epigraphs usually come from other artists, such as poets, authors, painters, or musicians. For example, here's the famous epigraph, written by D'Invilliers from Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. If you've read The Great Gatsby, then you're familiar …

To Glossary or Not to Glossary: that is the question.

I've been writing the first draft of what I call The Novel. Some days paragraphs come in torrents. Most days? A trickle of sentences or phrases here or a sparse description of a character there. I count it a good writing day when I'm able to twist a cliched phrase into something wonderful and new. …

What Do Recurring Themes Say About You as a Writer?

According to HowStuffWorks.com, Many people have the same or a similar dream many times, over either a short period of time or their lifetime. Recurring dreams usually mean there is something in your life you've not acknowledged that is causing stress of some sort. ... In this case, the dreams tend to lessen with time. I've had recurring dreams, but the …