September 15, 2021

2022 Virginia Festival of the Book

Every March, the Virginia Festival of the Book presents five days of programming featuring hundreds of speakers discussing their new books. This year, I've been invited to review submissions to the 2022 Festival, and am enjoying the diverse and varied offerings - from picture books to literary fiction, hard-hitting non-fiction to big, glossy style books. Submissions for books and speakers is open until October 1st, 2021, so if you want to submit [...]
June 12, 2021

The Writing Shed

I’ve been struggling to write. I’ve tried writing before going to work, but I’m a night owl by nature. Besides, in the morning my head is anticipating what I’ll have to deal with when I […]
June 6, 2020

Discovered: Bram Stoker’s Research for Dracula

The London Library has discovered fascinating evidence of the research books Bram Stoker drew inspiration from during his seven-year writing of Dracula. I confess to being a little surprised by his scholarly approach and to […]
April 25, 2012

What is Tsarpunk? Interview with Leigh Bardugo

Lia Keyes: Okay, Leigh, so what IS Tsarpunk? Leigh Bardugo: We can be frank with one another, yes? We’ve known each other, lo, these many seconds, shared a few vowels. All right then, I’ll give […]
May 22, 2011

Scientific Plausibility in Steampunk Fiction

In a recent interview, Phillip Reeve (author of the Mortal Engines quartet, and the Larklight series) made this statement in relation to his waning interest in Steampunk: “As for the current Steampunk fad for faux-Victorian […]
May 21, 2011

Book Review: DRAUGR by Arthur Slade

Draugr Ebook By Arthur Slade Published: Feb. 02, 2011 Category: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Thriller and Suspense Category: Fiction » Young adult or teen » Horror Words: 42897 Description “Are you afraid of the dead?” Sarah […]
April 23, 2011

Celebrating the Immortal Truth of Shakespeare

Today is Shakespeare’s birthday and deathday, if legend is to be believed, yet in the alternative reality of story which permeates our world he has never been more alive. His work has influenced writers as […]
March 14, 2011

How Do Your Characters See Themselves?

I’m working on a new novel involving a dual personality, so I’m doing a lot of research into mirrors, perception and point of view, but it has taught me something interesting about writing in general. […]
March 8, 2011

The Future of Publishing?

A number of people have asked me what I think the publishing world will look like when the dust has settled on the current revolution, and last weekend I was invited to participate in a […]
February 19, 2011

Interview: Kevin Mowrer on World-Building

Kevin Mowrer is a two times Emmy award-winning, Gemini award-winning, and Leo award-nominated Intellectual Property (I.P.) creator with over 25 years of broad experience in the kids and all-family entertainment and entertainment product business. His […]
February 18, 2011

Libraries: The Democracy of Choice

Do you remember the years between learning to read by yourself for the first time and the ones during which school workloads dealt a mortal blow to your free time? And do you remember the […]
January 14, 2011

Found my Muse! I knew she was lurking here somewhere…

After two days with hardly any sleep (trying to do too much as usual), I finally hit the sack at 6 am this morning, just as normal people were heading off to work, and woke […]