Summer Workshops

It's been a busy summer. I'm wrapping up a month-long workshop on Worldbuilding (through Passionate Ink) and preparing for my next one (on Descriptions) through Savvy Authors.

In August, I will be proposing a hands-on workshop directly through Otter Creations on writing the synopsis. There will be announcements and descriptions a-plenty, but if you're impatient, you can always email me with questions. There's a lot of additional information on my workshops in general and on the other services I offer on my Otter Creations site.

It's been a lot of fun doing the Worldbuilding workshop. I've wanted to look at story-worlds (my own and that of other writers') the way I've looked at folklore and folk tales, and I'll admit it worked. I hope that the participants got as much from the workshop as I did, because everything I suspected about my own story-building came out exactly as I thought. All the listening and reading of folk tales, legends, and myths that I've done since I was little did pay off. I read, I write, and I create my worlds as if I were still opening a book of magic tales.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away...

And no, I did not make a mistake. My imagination always allowed me to endow a fast car, a motorcycle, or a spaceship with the same exciting, adventurous feeling as the black destrier of the Fantasy Hero.

(Why black? Come on, be practical: a white horse gets dirty so fast, while a black horse is so much more impressive!)

Now it's your turn: I'm open to suggestions and requests for Fall Workshops.

A New Beginning

Well, it's been a while.

Oh my, oh my, it HAS been a while.

It's been a crazy year to say the least, and the least said, the better.

Meanwhile, this crazy family really did something crazy.

We got a puppy.

Yes, that's him there, the very afternoon when we got him. His name is Percy and he's an All-American Mutt. What I mean is that he's got traits and characteristics from several breeds, he seems to have taken the best of them all, he's a charmer, he's smart, his pregnant mom is a shelter rescue, and he fits right in our family.

Of course, we wanted a laid-back, couch-potato lap dog.

We got an active, smart, curious terrier-type.

Naturally. I should have known.

Now I plan on writing up his (mis)adventures on Mondays. Oh, and also how the neighbors' pitbull (no, don't worry, she's a nice dog) wishes she could play with the puppy next door. And how my Mom doesn't quite understand what to feed the dog and why he should get scraps from the table. And our walks in the South Texas heat, and how Percy is keeping me fit in spite of myself.

Ah yes. We're all Percy-crazy now. Can you tell?