Submission Fees

Look, I get it, literary journals need to make money. This is especially true if they are a paying market. Some choose to charge submission fees instead of cluttering their website with advertisements. I can respect that. However, there seems to be a rather large elephant in the room that isn’t discussed, submission fees, at...

My Flash Fiction Journey

Since summer of 2019 I started to delve into the world of writing and submitting flash fiction.  For those who don’t know flash fiction is a short story generally no longer than 1000 words.  Each publisher defines the term differently, some places take up to 1500 words while others limit submissions to 500. Flash is...

Where Have I Been?

For my followers, both old and new, it may seem like I have abandoned this blog.  To be honest I have toyed with that idea.  A part of me has grown weary of the blogging sphere.  Posts are often inundated with fake “likes” and “follows by people in a thinly veiled attempt to drive me...

Hurting People

I’ve said before that a big part of writing is observing the behavior of people.  This observation enables authors to be guided toward more realistic characters.  One observation that has become very apparent in recent years is hurt.  So many people appear to be defined by the past and the pain that was inflicted upon...

What do you Believe?

What do you believe?  Why do you hold those beliefs?  These are not questions for me but for yourself.  As much as we would like to think we have rational and logical reasons for our worldviews, the truth is many times emotion plays a big role as well.  That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but...

Harry Potter isn’t a Problem

Is Harry Potter the problem?  Recently there has been an upsurge in the Christian community over Harry Potter when a Catholic school banned the books.  I am a Christian and so I’ve become familiar with my faith’s condemnation of not just Harry Potter but the fantasy genre as a whole. Yes, I’m familiar with the...

Breathing Room for Writing

Are you a writer?  You know that it is often said that writing consistently is key.  This is something I wholeheartedly agree with, and if you have followed my blog for any length of time, you’ll know that.  Do you know what else is okay, perhaps even helpful?  Taking a break once in a while....

The Thing About Assumptions…

We are all guilty of it.  Most of the time we are unaware of the snap judgements we make about people and our settings.  While judgement has an often-negative connotation, most judgements are benign such as which clothes we wear, and the best way to start our day.  Others however, are more impactful and can...

Male Emotions

It is a cliché that boys are told they cannot cry. Yes, it is less socially acceptable for men and boys to weep hysterically in public than it is for the opposite sex.  In recent years there has been more of a push to let boys cry and to not shame us males for having...

Why I Chose to be an Indie Author

When one does an online search of “indie author” or “self-published author,” he or she will get a slew of opinions.  Some are favorable, and some are not as favorable.  It seems the most common unfavorable views come from authors who are already published through a traditional service. I can understand from the perspective of...