Category: Life the Universe and Everything

LTUE Followup

February 19th, 2013

Okay, so maybe the photographer cut off half my face. It’s still proof that I was there. This was one of my favorite panels, with a couple other great authors, a NYT bestselling author and a literary agent. Oh, and they proved that they cannot only write well, but speak well too. I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in a long time.

In addition to panels on topics from Young Adult literature to avoiding mistakes first-time authors make, I interviewed with several podcasts and shows, including Residual Hauntings, talking about “The Last Archangel”. You can listen here:

http://residualhauntings.podomatic.com/entry/2013-02-17T21_55_15-08_00

I even won a free shirt from Epic Puzzles and Games in Lehi, UT because I correctly answered a question about zombies. I surprised even myself when I came up with the name “revanant”.

I’ve also taken up the cause of the Author’s Think Tank and their awesome new podcast “by authors, for authors” called Forever Writers. I wrote the lyrics at the beginning of the podcast, and will hopefully be a host on future installments. They will be posted soon here:

http://www.foreverwriters.com/

If you didn’t go this year, I would definitely check it out next year. Visit http://www.ltue.org for more information. It usually happens in February and is a wonderful value for your money. If you are an author and present, you can even get in for free.

I will appear next at Write Here in Ephraim on March 4th at Snow College in Utah, and then at the LDStorymaker’s Conference in mid May. See you there!
Avoiding Cliche Like the Plague

February 16th, 2012

I’m back! I apologize for the short hiatus. From choir tours, to auditions, to funerals and more, my life has been on overdrive lately.

There have been many personal triumphs lately. For starters, if you are living in Utah, be sure to come see me perform in “The Secret Garden” at the Hale Center Theater Orem beginning in April. You can get details at http://www.haletheater.org.

I’ll let you know of the others in my writing update. As far as writing goes, I’ve really hit my stride. Just take a look at the numbers:

Stats:

My word count for the week: 11,672

Running Total: 75,586

Writing Tip of the Week:

I’ll start sharing some tips from my presentation at UVU called “Avoiding Cliché Like the Plague”. (See picture at the beginning of the post) Here’s my first installment:

There are three kinds of cliché I try to strike out of my writing:

Cliché Phrases: “He’s as skinny as a pole.”

Cliché Plot Points: “The knight saves the damsel.”

Cliché Characters: “The elf has pointy ears, and an affinity for baking.”

All of them can helped by taking what you have and twisting it, adding a vivid detail or two. Instead you could have:

“He’s as skinny as a melting icicle.”

“The knight’s horse saves the knight.”

“The elf is a sculptor whose greatest dream is to fly.”

Much more interesting, huh?

Writing Update:

One of my short stories “Checkin’ It Twice” was accepted into an anthology this week. It will be out in time for the holiday season. I’ll post more when I have it.

Speaking of Christmas anthologies, I still have a few slots in my own Christmas anthology of stories based on Christmas carols. Please check it out under “current projects”.

I’m getting ready to submit a short story to David Farland’s “Nightingale” contest. It can only be 2,500 words, but I think it’s great. Here’s hoping.

I also had two short stories become finalists in the Parables for Today contest (parablesfortoday.com). I’m waiting to hear if I’ll get one of the cash prizes (1^st-5^th place), but I’ll be happy in any case, because they will be in that anthology as well.

Things also plug along well with the novels, with about 20,000 words in each.

“Canticle of Night” has reached over the halfway point and has been really fun. Please take a moment to support it by clicking the ‘like’ button on the page.

If you want to listen to or read “Canticle of Night”, please visit my page at http://www.bigworldnetwork.com/CanticleofNight.html

I’d love to know what you think about it!

Category: Life the Universe and Everything

LTUE Followup

Avoiding Cliche Like the Plague