I’ve been writing now since 2012. Just to think about that passage of time is pretty scary. Since then I’ve turned out lots of books, one of which has been adapted into a film for which I also co-wrote the screenplay. Other titles have since been translated into multiple languages all over the world which…
What is poetry? According to dictionary.com, poetry is the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts. I had to read poetry when I was in school. To be honest, I never thought much of it except for two poems by Edgar Allan Poe: “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee.”…
If you want to make a book truly scary, an evil child will send chills up the readers’ spines. In Baby Teeth, Zoje Stage has created a little girl that will give you nightmares. Being a parent is a wonderful experience. Most parents believe they have the perfect child. But children can be scary. Children…
I can still remember the day I hit Amazon’s “publish” button for the first time. Afterward, I told my wife, “If even one person reads this book and likes it, that’ll be enough for me.” That was in November of 2013. I’d just finished my first novel, a one-hundred-ten-thousand-word, year-and-a-half-long project that had been one…
Hobson’s Choice is a collection of fifteen enjoyable short stories by Clive West. They are well-written, entertaining, and thought-provoking, showing that the situations we go through in life do not always have happy endings. Each story ends with an unexpected twist. Some of the stories I enjoyed more than others, but that is normal. The following…
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but it is up to the author to write those thousand words. (Richard Petracca) Will you be the one to write those thousand words? When you look at a picture, do you only see what is right in front of your eyes? Or do you see…
October is National Sarcastic Awareness Month, but people use sarcasm every day of the year. How often are you sarcastic? What is sarcasm? Sarcasm, according to the dictionary, is harsh or bitter derision. It is irony or the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning. When used…
San Francisco was the site of horrible terrorist attack where a contagion was unleashed that turned humans into oil-drooling zombies. At the end of book one, Nathan, who believes himself to be God’s chosen savior to restore control, manages to escape infection and death. Now the race is on to see who will end up…
How contemptible is your character? Is she a blellum? Could she be a buffarilla or a fa-ma-fuff? Would she be smart to marry a fritlag? Not all of these words can be found in today’s dictionaries, so where did I find them? I found them in word books, three of which are listed at the…
The best lie has a nugget of truth. Likewise, the best fictional story has a nugget, or maybe an entire Happy Meal, of reality. Check out any fantasy book, and you’ll find parallels to either present or historical elements. They might be leaders, wars, or social movements. So why is truth stranger than fiction? In…
