Back in action after a long vacation, but you’ll see I haven’t been a total slacker.
I’m a regular at BYU’s Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop, and this year I was able to participate in the group led by Laura and Tracy Hickman. Yes, the two people who are directly responsible for all the [...]
Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Workshopping with the Hickmans
Posted in Writing on June 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Converging on Everest with Le Guin and Russo
Posted in Writing, tagged F&SF, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Ursula K. Le Guin on April 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The March 2008 issue of F&SF carried a story by Richard Paul Russo called “The Second Descent.” Its characters are descending from a summit, and their reality and perceptions and memories lose coherency as the story progresses. Generally I prefer clarity in narrative, and quickly forget stories that lack it. But Russo’s story ended with [...]
My Wife Is Sabotaging Me!
Posted in Writing on January 15, 2009 | 4 Comments »
If I never become the famous author I deserve to be it’ll be my wife’s fault. She knows better than anyone how weak-willed I am. So I can only ascribe it to malicious intent when I open up one of my Christmas presents to find the Gold Edition of Sid Meier’s Civilization IV.
I’ve wasted more [...]
Workshopping KidLit at BYU
Posted in Writing, tagged Brandon Sanderson, brigham young university, byu on June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Last week I participated in the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop at Brigham Young University. This is an excellent week-long conference with authors, illustrators, editors and an agent, focusing on the whole range from picture book to YA novels.
Writing for younger readers is a new interest for me, something I accidentally picked up a [...]
8 Things College Football Teaches Me About Science Ficiton
Posted in Writing, tagged BCS, college football, science fiction, Writing on December 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In honor of the 8-team (or 16-team) playoff that the unethical BCS cartel will never let happen, here are some lessons college football teaches me about writing science fiction:
Laundry matters: Michigan can lose to Appalachian State and climb back into the rankings in a matter of weeks. But the bar is set much higher for [...]
Poetry Makes Good Prose
Posted in Writing, tagged poetry on November 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
At a reading Leslie Norris, whom I always thought of as a poet, said poetry had become the best way for him to hone his skills for prose. My own first attempts to write seriously were in poetry. (1,2)
Though I came to know I could never really be a poet, I believe those skills and [...]


