I adore fiction—both reading and writing it—but over the years, I’ve developed some petty complaints that can take me out of a story. These are not criticisms of other authors. I imagine most of these only bug me. And I, myself, have committed many of these silly transgressions. Via Wikimedia Commons 1. Predictable Plans SPOILER ALERT: I hate to ruin books for those who don’t know this, but when a character’s plan is carefully laid out beforehand, it almost always fails. Conversely, if very few details are provided about the plan, then it usually succeeds. When I realized this, it took the sus ..read more

Many of my best stories started out as accidents. I would be messing around with words and ideas for no real purpose when out of nowhere a complete story would blossom in my mind—plot, characters, and all. In the case of M: The Plastic Prometheus, it turned out to be an entire novel. Earlier this month, I was playing with the 3-Cup Method (Tim Waggoner’s invention, I think), hoping to find something that might inspire me. It involves three jars: one for Plot Archetypes, one for Story Situations, and the final for Story Elements. I pick a random slip of paper out of each and try to make a short ..read more

For years, I’ve wanted to tell stories that have different exteriors yet share a common thread. They could take place in the past, future, or present. Set on Earth or in a world far different than ours. They could span the spectrum of speculative fiction. Yet all these stories would be interconnected, taking place in the same universe, governed by the same rules. I call it the Bergain Mythos after the pretend world I invented as a child. This month I’ve combined my newfound love of science fiction and fantasy (SFF) with my old love of horror and I’m ready to flesh out the Bergain Mythos as I’v ..read more

I’m entering the fifth month of my new obsession with science fiction and fantasy (SFF). Last month, I focused solely on sci-fi. The genre is somewhat new to me, and I wanted to build a foundation by reading the classics and penning some stories. April, however, has been all about fantasy. I read some great books in the genre, my favorite being Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I’ve fallen in love with his writing and have since bought three more (massive) books by him that I plan to get to soon. Short Stories An approximation of the planet Atha (via Wikimedia Commons) I finished my story “Mother ..read more

It was a gamble veering off into a new genre after writing horror all these years, but I am so glad I made that choice. Science fiction is fast becoming my new obsession, with so many ideas flooding in and so much to explore. I was worried in last month’s post that I would quickly lose interest in sci-fi and fantasy, but I am happy to report that I am more inspired than ever. I had expected fantasy to be my focus. Instead, science fiction has consumed all my waking thoughts. Reading Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy was my foundation (image via Amazon) I’m reading as much science fiction as I ..read more

Returning to science fiction and fantasy has reminded me why I love these genres so much. The amount of creativity that goes into worldbuilding alone is astounding. And when it’s done right, it transports you to another realm. Fantasy has always had a special place in my heart. The books below are some that mean the most to me—all of which I would highly recommend. I should point out that the first two books technically belong to the New Weird genre, but I’ve included them here as I feel they share many similarities. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville This book blew me away. I went into ..read more

With my novel finished, I’m ready for the next chapter of my writing journey. But what to do? I love this freedom, a thousand directions I could go in. After much thought, I’ve decided to get back into writing short stories before I start another long project, but not necessarily horror. Before I go any further, I should let you know that I have a curse. Whenever I announce a big writing change on this blog, I inevitably give up on it within a month. But I’m so excited about this latest passion that I can’t help myself. I’ve been exploring fantasy and science fiction. A month ago, I was inspir ..read more

I have trouble finishing long writing projects, which is why it felt so great to complete the final edits of my latest novel last week. First drafts take me no more than a couple months to write. I’m in the zone, obsessed with the words I’m putting on the page. The problem comes later. I’ll be halfway through editing a novel or novella when my interest wanes. I’m too excited about the next project and so I abandon it. Months later, I’ll return, do a little more work, and abandon it again. Thus, nothing ever gets done. I’m changing this. There were many times while I was editing M: The Plastic ..read more

The last time I completed the final edits of a novel was back in 2018. The book was called Snap. It was my first long submission and received several polite rejections. A couple years later, I submitted a novella called The Preposterous Theater, which was deservedly rejected. Now my novel M: The Plastic Prometheus has just a few more edits and then I’ll be done. I was still in my writing infancy when I wrote Snap and The Preposterous Theater. With this current novel, I think I’ve progressed a lot. I still have a long, long way to go, but I have more confidence than I did before. My old method ..read more

It’s only halfway through January and I’m already going back on a New Year’s resolution. I stated that I wanted to read 52 books this year. That, I discovered, wasn’t the right approach. I should read the books that I want to read without worrying about quantity, and if I so happen to read 52 or more, great. I came to this conclusion when I was studying the spines on my shelves. Many of the books that I wanted to read were thick tomes, some with 1000+ pages, books like The Stand or the works of Terry Goodkind. It was disappointing to realize that I would have to put these on hold yet again. Ot ..read more