Category: The Craft
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Why Writing About What Interests You Is The Way To Go
It’s easy for writers to look at what’s selling and what’s winning awards and decide to try and do something similar. The hard part is when you sit down to start writing that story and find that the words won’t come. It all comes down to what you’re interested in. If you have no interest…
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Creating A Horror Book Cover Using Canva (A Free Graphic Design Application)
A great book cover is crucial for catching a reader’s eye, especially in the horror genre, where mood and atmosphere play a significant role. Many indie authors may not have the budget to hire a professional designer, but with tools like Canva, creating a compelling and eerie horror book cover is easier than ever. What…
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Words Matter
Words Matter The boy (it’s always a boy; girls know better the value of words) prodded at the thick object in front of him. Nothing happened. In the year 2350, this just wasn’t right. Where was the floating three dimensional view screen? He prodded some more. Then swiped up, then down, then sideways. Nothing! Stupid…
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Are We Just a Band of Pirates?
The aphorism ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’ (and variations thereof) is a metaphor for expanding on the knowledge gained by thinkers who came before. Its first documented expression occurred in written works from the 12th century. The original metaphor was a tribute to the ancient Greek and Roman scholars, and referred to medieval dwarves…
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Happy New Year!
“Never read any book that is not a year old.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson By that logic, you should now start reading the books you got for Christmas of 2023. Hi there! Pretty sure I’m the last one to wish you a happy new year, but don’t blame me; I didn’t put Thursday on the…
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Long and Short Form Horror Comics
I have long been a fan of scary comic books. When I was a kid, if something proved too scary, I could shut the book fast. Then I could slowly pull back the page until I was ready to face my fear. Even then, a good writer and a good artist could hold me transfixed…
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Supernatural Detectives
Uncovering the Unseen: Writing Supernatural Detectives Detective fiction as we know it began in the 19th century, and much of it was shaped by stories that valued wit, logic, and a dogged pursuit of the truth. Edgar Allan Poe is often credited with laying the foundation for the genre through The Murders in the Rue…
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Writer’s Block v. Procrastination – What Prevents an Author from Writing?
A few weeks ago while talking with a group of friends, one of them asked me the famous million-dollar question – ‘Where does your inspiration come from?’ I replied as always, ‘If someday someone finds out, they will become a millionaire.’ Then another asked, ‘How do you deal with writer’s block and lack of inspiration?’…
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Story Structure for Horror Stories: Part Two
Continuing my last post on story structure for horror, I wanted to take another look at structure, this time dissecting it using the 10 steps to story structure from K.M. Weiland. Let’s first take a quick look at those steps and then see how they can be applied to horror. 1. The Hook What is…
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The Sky Frightens
As I slowly (and I do mean slowly) eek out an episode here and there of In The Light Of… on Kindle Vella, I watch lots of YouTube videos for inspiration. What’s my story about? A friendly guy in the present day who helps people deal with UFO abductions. I’m trying to make the UFO…
Threads that Bind 