Tag Archives: Dragons of the Ashfall

I Don’t Care About Commas

My editor/wife yelled at me. A lot. She yelled mostly about commas. “Should this comma be here? It feels right, but is it right? The Chicago Manual of Style doesn’t help!” And then she tore my arm off my body and beat with it, using the flying splashes of blood to form a summoning circleContinue reading “I Don’t Care About Commas”

Next Time On…

Dragons have come to Londinium. At the end of Dragons of the Ashfall, Patty shoves her way onto the Gear, the ruling council of the city. She and her dragons aren’t leaving. The city needs them. Some kind of conflict is coming. The Well-Dressed Man lurks in the shadows. All that takes place at theContinue reading “Next Time On…”

Don’t be cruel.

Last week I said that authors can’t be kind. In case you missed it, let me spell it out to you as clearly as I can: Authors cannot be kind to their characters. Authors, please be kind to anyone who is not your character. Okay. Just wanted to get that out of the way. IContinue reading “Don’t be cruel.”

Don’t be kind.

You must not be kind. If you wish to write, if you wish your characters to have dramatic stories, if they must overcome, you must not be kind to them. Authors must be cruel, calculating beasts that tear down their main characters. Leave them sobbing on the ground. Make them beg for mercy. And then…Continue reading “Don’t be kind.”