Where Normal Need Not Apply
First, I want to thank J.A. Paul and Rachel Firasek for their guest posts. I had fun with their interviews and I hope you all did too. Yes, I’m back from a fun, exhausting trip to Disneyland. And yes, my vacation inspired a blog post. You’re not surprised, are you? Anyone who has visited a […]
I’m still at Disneyland, so I have another guest joining us today. This is the second installment of a new feature here on my blog: Interview with a…Muse (because interviewing our characters is just too sane). After I had so much fun with my Do You Have a Muse? post, I wanted to see who […]
“Hey, Jami, now that you have a bazillion things to do and no time to get it all done, what are you going to do?” “I’m going to Disneyland!” That’s right. I threw up my hands and decided everything could wait a week while I head to Disneyland with the family. Everything could wait but […]
Wait…what? Well, we want to make our antagonist good for our story anyway. *smile* Kristen Lamb has been running a fantastic series on antagonists (Part One, Part Two, Villains, Balancing Evil, Inner and Outer Demons). She shares more gems than I can capture here, so definitely check out her posts. For what I want to talk […]
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When we first get an idea for a story, the characters who will populate that story often start out shadowy and vague. Either before the writing process (if we’re plotters) or during the writing process (if we’re pantsers), we have to develop those characters into something solid and colorful. We have to make them real […]
All writers get their ideas from somewhere. The question is—where, or what, is that somewhere? I don’t believe muses are entities like those venerated in Ancient Greece. However, when my subconscious comes up with things I never saw coming and never could have consciously created in a million years, it’s easy for me to understand […]
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Most of you have never met me in person, so I need to start off by explaining that I’m a very expressive person. All those smiley faces in my tweets and blog comments? Completely true-to-life. You’ll never see me take a bet to try to keep a straight face for more than five seconds. I […]
Do you dread that question? If you tell the cashier at the grocery store you’re a writer and they ask what your book is about, do you have an answer? All writers who want readers have to be able to answer that question. Whether it’s our brother-in-law at a holiday dinner or an agent at […]
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Fantasy: To become an author, we just need to have a great idea, write it down, and then agents, publishers, and readers will all magically appear. Reality: Nothing like that. Becoming an author isn’t simple. Oh no. We have what seems like a never-ending list of things to learn and do if we want to […]
Old-fashioned school desks squeak, their occupants leaning for a better view. Dust motes hang suspended in the sunbeams from the classroom windows, as though they stilled, waiting for the confession. I stand before the group and gather my courage. “My name is Jami Gold and I am a learning addict.” As my posts about learning […]
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