I’m so happy that I can finally share my first nonfiction book—Painting the Past: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction—with everyone. Already, on its first day of release, Painting the Past has been named the #1 New Release in Authorship. Amazing. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen. I came up with … Continue reading It’s Here: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction
creative writing
My Favorite Books About Writing
As I've been adding the finishing touches to my first nonfiction book about writing historical fiction, I've been thinking about the writing books that have inspired me over the years. There are too many to name in a short blog post, but here are a few I go back to again and again. Writing Down … Continue reading My Favorite Books About Writing
How to Live Like a Poet According to Jack Kerouac
Researching and Writing During a Busy Term I can verify that life as a PhD candidate is a lot of work. There are times when, after long days of researching, writing, and teaching courses at my university, I feel as if I'm lacking even one viable brain cell. I can walk into the supermarket for … Continue reading How to Live Like a Poet According to Jack Kerouac
A Trail of Breadcrumbs: How To Use Foreshadowing In Your Fiction
Surviving My First Term As A Doctoral Student I'm very nearly finished with my first semester as a doc student. While I seem to have survived relatively unscathed, I wonder if I'll have as much luck next term when I'll be taking a research statistics class. Let me put this in proper perspective--I haven't taken … Continue reading A Trail of Breadcrumbs: How To Use Foreshadowing In Your Fiction
Do You Need to Travel to the Place You’re Writing About?
You don't need to travel to the place you’re writing about, but it’s helpful to go if you can. Sometimes traveling for research happens by accident, when you find a jewel you didn’t know you were looking for. That’s what happened to me when I was in Portland, Oregon and I found my way to Pittock … Continue reading Do You Need to Travel to the Place You’re Writing About?