Journal

I’m at the National Puppetry Festival and having an amazing time seeing shows and taking workshops. I thought I’d slip away for a moment to show you the puppet I made in the Needle-felting class. I’ve never tried this technique before and was stunned by how fast it is.

My brother got married this weekend. The ceremony was absolutely lovely and at a farm that belongs to friends of the bride’s family. Being an outdoor summer wedding, Rob and I wore hats and apparently stepped back in time. (And yes, this wedding was for the same brother who defended his dissertation two weeks ago. Next week,

What’s a reluctant character? Well, it’s somebody who needs to be dragged along into the adventure, somebody who isn’t the sort of self-motivated, go-getter that we so often populate our books with. These characters feel a lot like real people — our world is full of folks like this. The trick lies in making these

I’m appearing tonight in Lansing, MI with the fabulous Jim C. Hines as the kick-off event for the MSU Young Authors Conference. The Michigan State University Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures is holding its first Young Authors’ Conference this summer, providing young writers with an opportunity to hone their writing skills and interact

But I warn you to make sure you have a box of tissues handy.

Some of you may remember Steve from my April Fool’s joke last year. While he did not write my novels, he is in fact a historian and has written a doctoral dissertation, which looks at American’s relationship to China through the lens of the missionaries serving there in the 1950s. With permission, here’s an excerpt from it.

The completely undeserved tinnitus that I developed randomly can go away randomly at any time now. Thank you! And no, I haven’t been listening to anything loud, nor did it occur after travel. I just woke up one morning August last year, in my quiet apartment with a high-pitched squealing. Yes, I’m hydrating. No, I’m

We recorded this episode in front of our live audience at the first-ever Out of Excuses Workshop and Retreat. Here are the questions (you’ll have to listen for the answers): To Dan: How did you go about selling your first trilogy in Germany before selling it in the US To Howard: did you consider doing

I did not think their ears could look any larger. I was so wrong.

Normally when I write historical fantasy, I spend months researching. For reasons, I’ve only had time to do a preliminary layer and would like someone who knows their stuff to read this before I turn it in. I will warn you that it is the first chapter of a novel that I may never write.