Tag Archives: Dieselpunk

Research Tips for Your Story Writing

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So we all know about doing research for a non-fiction book, or for any sort of accurate historical fiction tale, right? But what about other types of storytelling? Basically, anything besides memoir/autobiography or fiction-loosely-based-on-your-personal-experiences requires research. Yes, even the highly fictional genres like science fiction and fantasy. 

How writers often feel doing research

Why Research? 

Details matter when it comes to worldbuilding for a story. The more little details that are woven throughout a tale (spread throughout the story, not info-dumped all at once), the more real the world of the story will feel to your readers. 

Details like food, clothing, buildings, climate, entertainment—all of these things exist in our lives and we use and are affected by them everyday. In a believable story (yes, even sci-fi/fantasy), the same should be true of your characters. 

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When Your Writing Goes Against Your Personal Beliefs

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As a fiction writer, my main job is to make up stuff and write about things that I’ve never experienced (and probably never will, since I write fantasy and sci-fi). And sometimes, in the course of writing about people, places, and events that I’ve never seen or experienced, something comes along that directly violates my personal principles and beliefs. 

So what do you do, as a writer, if, for the sake of the story, you need to write about something that is the very antithesis of who you are as a person? I’m sure plenty of mystery and thriller writers have asked themselves this question. After all, the vast majority of people who write murder mysteries are not, in fact, murderers. 

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Happy New Year! Here We Go Again?

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Yes, it’s a new year again. A new year full of hope and chances to start over. A new year full of goals, dreams, and plans. A new year to wonder how different life might become from what we imagined it would.

The past two years have sure thrown us all for a loop. Even those who haven’t lost jobs or loved ones have had their lives changed. Many would agree that this past year, and the year before that, weren’t the best years they’ve ever had.

And 2021, also, actually

But despite two years of changes that nobody wanted, I still choose to look on the new year with hope and positive expectation. And while this past year may not have been the greatest on record, I’m so grateful that I had some pretty amazing things happen.

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New Jazz-Age Fantasy Adventure!

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The next installment in my Adventures of Mrs. Jones series is out–and it’s a full-length novel! Up till now, all the books I’ve published (Mrs. Jones tales and others) have been short stories or novellas.

Mrs. Jones and the Radium City is now available for Kindle on Amazon. A physical paperback version will be available soon, so stay tuned for more info about that. But in the meantime, you’d probably like to know what this book is all about! And so here we go:

Mrs. Jones and the Radium City

In 1920s Los Angeles, Cornelia Jones moves in the top circles of society, thanks to her privileged upbringing as well as her marriage to the brilliant scientist and inventor, John Jones. But when John, on the verge of completing his latest invention that has the potential to usher in a new technological age, is critically injured in a laboratory accident, it’s up to Cornelia to investigate what happened and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Good thing she knows magic. 

Aided by Adelaide, a young society debutante eager to learn the ways of both science and magic, Cornelia embarks on a journey to discover who’s responsible for these nefarious deeds. But the deeper she dives into John’s world, Cornelia realizes that evil is alive and well in this bright new age of progress. A secret organization moving in the shadows seems to have mysterious and sinister plans for her husband’s altruistic creation. 

The world is changing as the Twenties begin to roar, and if Cornelia and Adelaide fail to stop the villains, then both Cornelia’s world and the rest of the planet will change more horrifically than anyone could imagine.

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New Short Story! Roaring Twenties Fantasy Adventure!

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It’s been quite a while since I’ve published anything, though I’ve been getting more disciplined with my writing habits. I finished this short story months ago–even had it edited and revised and everything–but for some reason I just hadn’t pulled the trigger yet. Why are us writers and artists sometimes so reluctant to share our beautiful and finished projects with the world?

The answer to that is, I think, long and complicated and the subject for a different blog post. But anyway, I finally did click “upload” and “publish” on Amazon, so here we are: a brand new short story in my decopunk Roaring 20s historical fantasy series! I’m currently writing the first actual novel of this series, but this story should give readers a little more insight into my character and her world before the novel is ready. Click the link to buy and enjoy! Continue reading →