I, like many others in this technology-drenched era, have had to adapt to a shrinking attention span. The ease and programmed addictiveness of modern distractions have made it nearly impossible to construct a full sentence before I go running in a completely different direction. I have short-cuts and cheats that help me focus: ambient noise, music,... Continue Reading →
Editing sucks! / Editing’s great!
I am of two minds on this topic, obvy. Let's call it a journey, shall we? You can't develop much of a writing career if all you do is write. And let's face it - writing is the fun part and editing, as stated above, sucks. At least that's how I view it right now.... Continue Reading →
Have You Heard My Voice?
You may not know this about me. I'm a trained singer and actor. Those skills have found their place in podcasting, where I not only help host a podcast, but also narrate audio fiction. And here you thought I was just another pretty face! Recently, one of my narrations went live at the Kaleidocast podcast, where... Continue Reading →
I Have A New Story In The World! And A Podcast To Go With It
My story "The Path That Splits the Oak Asunder" is live as part of the Kaleidocast podcast. Listen to the story here, then go to the website to find out more about the podcast. My story is in Episode 3. You can listen to the podcast at the website, on Soundcloud, or on iTunes.... Continue Reading →
Con Report: World Fantasy Convention 2015
I have to admit I was afraid at first of going to this convention alone. Sure, I can be social when I need to, but I'm not great at breaking in to groups of strangers. Fortunately, I was only a stranger for about 24 hours. After that, the warm, wonderful family of writers and fans... Continue Reading →
I Am An Old Nobody And I Love What I Do
I'm just going to leave this here. "Ask Polly: Should I just give up on my writing?" It's easy to get overwhelmed by the rejections. It's easy to look at the success of others and compare it to your own position on the imagined ladder of success. It's easy to find your own work inferior to the... Continue Reading →
You care about the environment, but are you ready to punk it? Solarpunk!
One of the many magical things that happened at Readercon this year, and which subsequently popped my poor brain like an overripe grape, resulted from being exposed to a new type of “punk"... solarpunk! For those of you who don't know, all the sub-genres bearing the -punk suffix share a set of characteristics. Steampunk, cyberpunk,... Continue Reading →
A New Length for Fiction: The Commuter Novel
If you look up how many words you have to write before you have a novel, the lower threshold goes down to around 50,000 words. That's sort of an average, genre notwithstanding. But there it is. Write 50,000 words and, poof!, you've got a novel. That may be why NaNoWriMo sets that lofty goal for... Continue Reading →
My Convention Schedule for 2015
Ah, conventions. Where writers let their hair down, and occasionally get their nails painted. They also meet other writers, and readers, and fans. And agents and editors and publishers. And generally really cool people. It's like a vacation, where you go to school with like-minded people. For a social person with a solitary hobby, it's... Continue Reading →
Bored and Brilliant
Under what conditions does creativity thrive? That's a question that has been asked by most people engaged in a creative activity, particularly if they've gone through a slump. There's a theory that creativity happens in the blank spaces, when your mind has nothing else to do. When you mind "wanders," it's really keeping itself occupied,... Continue Reading →
A lifetime of creativity 