Rabia Gale

Wow. What a ride. I finished up Ship of Destiny–the culminating volume of Robin Hobb’s mammoth Liveship Traders trilogy–a few days ago. I can understand why Hobb is such a popular writer. In this trilogy, she deftly and masterfully handles a sprawling plot,  an immersive world, multiple points-of-view, and several character arcs. Ship of Destiny [...]

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This post was supposed to go up Christmas Eve, but I spent close to an hour struggling with a slow Internet connection and gave up after getting two pictures uploaded. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! *** Our December, in pictures: Glittery Stars Science Experiments With Snow Handprint Wreath Decorating Cookies Decorating the [...]

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I binged on fantasy all November long. I flew through two YA fantasies–Avielle of Rhia by Dia Calhoun and Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George. Avielle (of Rhia, of course!) is the despised younger daughter of the royal family. She closely resembles her Dredonian great-grandmother, reviled for the magic she used [...]

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I’m happy to be back revising SoR. Revising, I think, is often where the real work of writing novels is. This is the point where I have to put my thinking cap on, where I have to confront plot issues and grapple with characters. I can’t blow off story problems with a note to come [...]

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Ok, David again with an update. As you can see from the nifty picture on the left over there, I actually made it across the finish line, clocking in at 50,307 words on Saturday, November 28th. Yep, two days early. And Rabia wants me to write up another post with my thoughts, now that I’ve [...]

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I find searching for markets for my work to be one of the more stressful parts of wanna-be-pro writing. Note that I said searching, not querying. It’s almost like being a matchmaker—trying to find the perfect fit, scrutinizing guidelines, reading archives, doing the mental equivalent of plucking daisies (“they’ll like my story” “they’ll like my [...]

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A few weeks (or more) ago, when we were drowning in apples, I thought it would a fun idea for the kids to make apple prints (and perhaps do some other apple-related activities, like these). Of course, right off the bat, Sir I. declared complete disinterest. So I set Miss M. up with apples, paper [...]

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September reads: The Luxe by Anna Godbersen: The gorgeous dress on the cover is what enticed me back into fiction early last month. I wish I could say the story itself was as riveting. In spite of the intriguing premise, I found myself frustrated with the characters, who mostly just sat around and let things [...]

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This is a public service announcement. (I always like saying that!). Many if you may know that I’ve gone through Holly Lisle’s novel writing course, How to Think Sideways. The course runs for six months, guiding a writer through the novel writing process from conception to revision in weekly lessons. It also includes access to [...]

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I took last week entirely off because friends were visiting. I’ve spent the last few days catching up with housework, getting back into writing, brainstorming a story and getting back into school. I’ll be back soon, with a reading roundup for September. How are you all?

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