Journal

My Favorite Bit: KJ Kabza talks about THE RAMSHEAD ALGORITHM AND OTHER STORIES

KJ Kabza is joining us today with his short story collection The Ramshead Algorithm and Other Stories. Here is the publisher’s description: In The Ramshead Algorithm and Other Stories, sand cats speak, ghost bikes roll, corpses disappear, and hedge mazes are more bewildering than you’ve ever imagined. These 11 fantasy and science fiction stories from KJ Kabza have […]

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Where to find Mary in January

Hopefully there is a little less nope in your New Year. Mary is mostly hibernating this month, but here are a few places to catch her in January! January 9 Online Patreon Writing Date January 14 Online Patreon Writing Class: Methods of Worldbuilding   Or find her online here Patreon • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

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My 2017 year-end wrap up

It’s time for the wrap-up of what I’ve accomplished in 2017! Publications! Short Story “Your Mama’s Adventures in Parenting” – Shimmer Magazine “The Worshipful Society of Glovers” – Uncanny Magazine  Best Related Work Writing Excuses Season 12: Theory and Technique This looks like low output, which, well, it is. BUT, that’s because publishing schedules mean that

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Paired covers for The Calculating Stars, showing a group of women on a blue field, and The Fated Sky, which has a lone astronaut against a red sky.

THE CALCULATING STARS and THE FATED SKY available for pre-order!

The Lady Astronaut books are now available for pre-order! The Calculating Stars The Fated Sky If you pre-order through these links, which will take you to Mary’s favorite local bookstore, a SIGNED and personalized copy will arrive at your house on release day! These books are prequels to Mary’s Hugo-award winning story The Lady Astronaut

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My Favorite Bit: Carrie Ann DiRisio talks about BROODING YA HERO

Carrie Ann DiRisio is joining us today with her novel Brooding YA Hero: Becoming a Main Character (Almost) as Awesome as Me. Here’s the publisher’s description: Have you ever wished you could receive a little guidance from your favorite book boyfriend? Ever dreamed of being the Chosen One in a YA novel? Want to know

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My Favorite Bit: Jim C. Hines talks about TERMINAL ALLIANCE

Jim C. Hines is joining us today with his novel Terminal Alliance. Here’s the publisher’s description: In his hilarious new sci-fi series, Jim C. Hines introduces the unlikely heroes that may just save the galaxy: a crew of space janitors. The Krakau came to Earth to invite humanity into a growing alliance of sentient species. However,

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CHARACTER & SELF-DEFINITON: We self-define in multiple ways. A flat character exists on only one axis. Role — Career. (puppeteer, a voice actor, an author.) Relationship — Duty (wife, daughter, mentor.) Status —Class/hierarchy (Middle class, poverty, rockstar) Competence — Abilities. (intelligence, skill, prowess) The places where the disparate aspects of self-identity come into conflict are natural stress points. For character-based conflict, pry on those cracks.

Character and Self-Definition

Character driven stories are a journey of self-discovery. They begin when a character is dissatisfied with an aspect of self and end when the character solidifies their self-definition. This can end in a positive or negative state. Either the character achieves the self-definition they were going for, or they recognize that they never will. Basically,

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My Favorite Bit: Richard Baker talks about VALIANT DUST

Richard Baker is joining us today with his novel Valiant Dust. Here’s the publisher’s description: Sikander Singh North has always had it easy―until he joined the crew of the Aquilan Commonwealth starship CSS Hector. As the ship’s new gunnery officer and only Kashmiri, he must constantly prove himself better than his Aquilan crewmates, even if he

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My Favorite Bit: James Alan Gardner talks about ALL THOSE EXPLOSIONS WERE SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT

James Alan Gardner is joining us today with his novel All Those Explosions Were Someone Else’s Fault. Here’s the publisher’s description: Monsters are real. But so are heroes. Sparks are champions of weird science. Boasting capes and costumes and amazing super-powers that only make sense if you don’t think about them too hard, they fight an

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Where to find Mary in November

  We are all thankful for cats and sunbeams. Here’s where to find Mary this month: November 3 Online Class: Short Story Intensive Class November 14 Online Patreon Writing Date November 19-22 Writing Excuses records at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston November 26 Online Patreon Writing Class: Diagnosing Story Problems November 28 Online Class:

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