The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss My rating: 5 of 5 stars The best fantasy novel I've read in years. The highest compliment I can give a work of fantasy is that the world feels real and lived-in. Rothfuss clearly took his time, approaching the world from a bottom-up perspective: what do the … Continue reading Review: The Name of the Wind

I have Opinions about dialogue, but at the end of the day my strongest is this: keep it short. Not the scene, mind you--that can run on as long as you like--but the actual lines, from the actual characters, should be kept tight and few in number. Most day-to-day conversation goes something like this: Al: … Continue reading The 1st Commandment of Dialogue in Fiction

I was reading a piece, recently, on emotional wounds in fictional characters: “Like in real life, characters suffer many different smaller wounds throughout their lives, but the ‘wounding event’ that factors into your character’s internal arc should be symbolic of the false belief they must reject in order to become whole once more.” I think … Continue reading Don’t Kill Your Darlings–Just Put ’em Through the Wringer

I recently read a great little piece [http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/book/1268839/in-the-good-books] about the value of independent bookstores. Admittedly they were talking about the market for such stores in Thailand, but there was a particular line in there (from Charun Hormtienthong, president of the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand) that got me thinking: "The value of the independent … Continue reading The Great Curator: Indie Bookstores