Author Anniversary: Special Edition

As Fairytale Feminista readers know, I don’t usually post on Fridays, but today I’m making an exception. Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t celebrate, but last year I found a new reason to mark the occasion. Last year I published my first novella, The Cemetery Circle. It seemed appropriate to release it on Valentine’s Day because …

Believing your own hype–like a tailor

Being a writer is hard. I know everyone says that, but it's like parenting--you don't know how hard it's going to be until you're in the trenches, slogging through it all. It turns out writing and rewriting (and rewriting, and rewriting...) is actually the easy part. Especially if you hold to the rule that you …

Formula: The Sequel or Comfort Mind Food

Last week I wrote about Hallmark Movies and their tendency to be formulaic. And I don’t think formula's are always a bad thing. But there was a time when my literary snobbery got in the way of a good time. As a teenager I flirted with a certain author’s romance stories that would be considered …

The Elusive Ooh

Writers are some of the best readers. Many of the same traits that make a good writer are cultivated by good readers. Attention to detail. Love of a good story. Ability to suspend disbelief. But there's a fourth thing that I've only ever experienced as a writer. I've been working on my second novel and …

Deadlines in the World of Make Believe

Fairy tales love deadlines. Midnight curfews. Seasonal mandates. Royal decrees with an expiration date. It ramps up the drama to know that not only does a protag have an obstacle to overcome, but there’s also a clock on when it must be completed. Readers love that. You know who doesn’t love it? Writers. We put …

A Brief Return

First things first: I'm not done with the manuscript of A Noble's Path: Book 2 in my Enchanted Path series. I am about 2/3 of the way done and would likely move faster if it wasn't turning into some Choose Your Own Adventure, where I write a chapter followed by two versions of what would …

Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Rip Van Winkle and Me

Fairy tales and folklore have a tradition of putting protagonists in comas. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Rip Van Winkle are only a few examples of letting things cool down while the main character takes a prolonged nap. Evil queens are dispatched. Curses are lifted and generally life goes on. It changes the trajectory of …

An interview with me!

Hey FF readers, Writers are a friendly lot. We like to support each other because no one knows more than we do how difficult and solitary this profession can be. Bloggers understand that more than most and I think it's great the way we reach out to each other to make the big, scary blogosphere …

The Little Blogger that Could

A lot of ink (and RAM space) has been spent on writer’s block of some sort or another. There are also plenty of techniques people swear by, from writing prompts to mindful walking. Each writer has to figure out what works best. But I’ve yet to see anything about what to do about blogger’s block. …

A Writer’s Winter Fairy Tale Come True

Now that the Christmas season has come and gone, I can make a confession. I really don’t like “It’s A Wonderful Life.” I didn’t see it until I was in college and my roommate expressed horror at my lapse in film viewing. I explained that one Christmas I saw it listed in the TV Guide …