-
Get Fiction in Your Mailbox Each Month
Want two installments of serial novella BABY DRIVER, available only through subscription, in your mail each month, along with access to a lively community of writers and readers, free classes, co-working sessions, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
Want to get some new fiction? Support my Patreon campaign.
This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Author Archives: Casey Blair
Guest Post: Carrie Vaughn on That Ineffable Quality of Voice
Ask many writers what got them to the next level, what separates great writers from good writers, sparkling writing from the merely competent, and they’ll often give the same answer: voice. A voice that stands out, that grabs the reader and … Continue reading
Posted in guest post
Tagged carrie vaughn, developing voice, narrative voice, point-of-view
Leave a comment
Chandra Clarke on the Importance of Not Giving Up in the Face of Big, Intractable Problems
It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by… everything right now. Climate change, the rise of authoritarianism, the economy, systemic racism, a global pandemic. Social media (which arguably has never been a showcase for the best humanity has on offer) has … Continue reading
Posted in guest post
Tagged chandra clarke, climate change, community organizing, fight for change, guest blog post
Leave a comment
Guest Post: Jeffrey A. Carver on How I Ventured into Audiobooks and Lost My Shirt—or Maybe Found It
Audiobooks are the current gold rush in publishing—or so they say, and you know “they” always know what they’re talking about. If you don’t get on the audiobook wagon, you are sure to lose out. That might or might not … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged audio books, audiobooks, guest blog post, indie publishing, jeffrey a carver, production, wide distribution
1 Comment
Guest Post: B. Morris Allen on Writing in Harmony
Writing is inherently frustrating, because it’s a process of condensing imagination into prose–taking countless colours and dimensions of dreaming and stripping them down to a few crude black and white stick drawings that readers can expand back in their own … Continue reading
Posted in guest post
Tagged about writing, anthology, collaboration, developing voice, writing craft
Leave a comment
Guest Post: Gustavo Bondoni on Argentine SFF
Last week, Argentina’s largest literary prize, sponsored by the government through the National Arts Fund, announced that it would only accept science fiction, fantasy and horror entries this year. All hell broke loose immediately. In some cases, there were people … Continue reading
Posted in guest post, Uncategorized
Tagged argentine sff, genre history, gustavo bondoni, sff around the world
Leave a comment
Guest Post: Mark Engleson on When Lack of Social Grace Crosses the Line
When Lack of Social Grace Crosses the Line An autistic responds to “The Shealy Logs” (Burgin Mathews, No Depression, Spring 2020) In “The Shealy Logs,” Burgin Mathews relates the story of John Shealy, who created decades of logs of performances … Continue reading
Posted in guest post
Tagged actually autistic, asd, autism, disability awareness, mark engleson, responsibility, social anxiety
Leave a comment
Guest Post: Michael R. Underwood on Five Tips for Cultural Worldbuilding Without Building a World Bible
Worldbuilding can be an intimidating part of writing science fiction/fantasy, whether it’s an epic fantasy or a distant far-future space opera. There are many ways focusing on worldbuilding first can go awry, chief among them the possibility that worldbuilding becomes … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged culture, how to finish a story, michael r underwood, mythology, power dynamics, research, worldbuilding
Leave a comment
Guest Post: Kathy L. Brown on Miss Lutra’s Squirrel Stew from “Water of Life”
In my prohibition-era, urban fantasy novelette, Water of Life, investigator Sean Joye searches the Southern Illinois hill country for Caleb, a missing moonshiner. His trek, beyond a flooded river and through a forest bristling with ice and fae ill intent, leads him … Continue reading
Guest Post: Nerine Dorman on Making a Cooperative Initiative Work
It all started innocently enough about five or so years ago. A fellow author sent me a link to an article about the Book View Café, and we figured: why don’t we do something like this? By this stage many of … Continue reading
Guest Post: Brandon Cornett on Creating Believable Characters in Speculative Fiction, With Diaries
A pop quiz for speculative fiction writers. Think about your current work-in-progress. Maybe it’s a short story, a novel, or a play. Now, thinking about your protagonist or main character, answer the following questions: What are your character’s greatest fears … Continue reading
Posted in guest post
Tagged character building, freewrite, journaling, writing exercise
Leave a comment
