If you’ve ever looked into sending queries to agents—or even just spent time reading descriptions of books—you’ve probably seen the term “character-driven story.” But what does that mean? If you’re not sure how character-driven stories and plot-driven stories are different, you’re not alone. Since this topic first came up in… Read the rest...

In my meandering path to becoming an author, I’ve discovered that nobody reads quite the same way that writers do. We read for pleasure, but we also read to improve our craft, gain inspiration to create our own stories, learn more about genres and themes we aren’t yet familiar with,… Read the rest...

New names. More words. New plans. It’s been a frustrating few months, but now that I’m getting a clear vision of what’s still to come, I’m finally feeling a little better about everything going on. If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about my epic fantasy series, the Snakesblood Saga. Different… Read the rest...

Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken a lot of time out to read books. It’s been great, but in all of them I’ve picked up, I’ve noticed a recurring issue. Name-dropping brands and franchises in your book lends it a certain real-world appeal, but you encounter an immediate problem:… Read the rest...

It’s been a long-standing source of frustration for me as a reader: reading a book that doesn’t give me any sense of closure. In some cases, it’s small oversights, forgotten characters, plot threads that weren’t tied up to my satisfaction. And sometimes it’s something else entirely. Books need more than… Read the rest...