A Worthwhile Prize

Alanna grabbed Kael’s shoulder, wrenching him backwards. “Stop!” she hissed, pointing at the spot where he was about to step. The warrior looked down, his face paling visibly as he noticed the slightly raised edge of a round disk on the elaborately carved floor. “Trigger trap,” he confirmed. “Better keep a close eye on the…

Do You Enjoy Reading Flash Fiction?

I only learned about flash fiction about a year ago. If you haven’t encountered it before, flash fiction is the term for fully contained stories in a very limited number of words. They usually range anything from 100 to 1000 words. Personally, I prefer writing stories towards the upper reaches of this word limit, because…

Representation in Fiction

“Representation” is the current buzzword in the world of fiction. Readers are getting more and more vocal about stories that are not representative enough and woe betide anyone who happens to write something with a straight white male protagonist in the lead. And I get it. Sort of. When I first started reading (English) fiction on my…

Second Book Syndrome is Real

NaNoWriMo kicked my butt this year, and the reason for that is because I’m trying to write the second installment of my Mythical Menagerie series. While the first story flowed from my fingertips as if Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, was whispering in my ear, writing this second one is like trying to wade through a pool…

To NaNo or not to NaNo

If you’re a writer, then you’ve probably heard of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. Writers exist in a coffee-fuelled, sleep-deprived zombie-like state throughout the month of November as we attempt to write 50,000 words in thirty days. That breaks down to 1667 words per day, which doesn’t actually sound that much – until you…

Why I Write Short Stories

There are two main reasons why I write short stories instead of novels (at least at this point in my life). The short answer is writing style and stamina. When they edit their first draft, most people need to cut out bits that are unrelated to the story. They tend to add lots of description…

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