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Point of View: Scenes from a Con

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Alex Wifi Dance

So we’re about to hit the road (or the sky) for our trip home from Nijicon in Philadelphia. It was a good con – come next year, y’all! But we had a blast, and met some great folks. So I thought I’d share a few moments with you from our time at the con: 1) The Dancing Alex: Our buddy Alex Woolfson, of “The Young Protectors” fame, was at Niji with us. The Hall wifi kinda sucked, so every time he made a sale (which was fairly often). we’d look over to see Alex doing his wifi dance to try … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Jon Keys

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Spurred On - John Keys

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today, Jon Keys – like me, Jon straddles the line between sci fi and contemporary, and many of his stories have a magical realism element. Mark and I met Jon at Rainbow Con – he’s a sweet guy with a mean writing talent. 🙂 Thanks so much, Jon, for joining me! J. Scott Coatsworth: How would you describe your writing style/genre? Jon Keys: Everything? Anything? No, not really. But I have tried several … Read more

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Point of View: Five Things You Have to Do Before a Con

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Scott swag

We’re getting ready to go to Nijicon next weekend in Philadelphia, so I thought this would be a great time to go over the steps we take to get ourselves ready for a writer con. 1) Shave. And Shower. Seriously. We all get wrapped up in our writing, sitting in our little writer caves, and many of us work a second (and sometimes third) job to pay the bills to allow us the ability to write. And it’s easy to forget to comb your hair, put on clothes, and wear deodorant like a regular person every morning when you get … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Jen Burke

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Jenn Burke

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today, Jenn Burke – I’m thrilled to have Jenn here with us today. 🙂 Thanks so much, Jenn, for joining me! J. Scott Coatsworth: How would you describe your writing style/genre? Jenn Burke: I like my books to have adventure in them—that’s probably the one constant across everything I’ve written. I want them to be fun escapes for the reader. JSC: What was your first published work? Tell me a little about it. … Read more

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Point of View: Five Strategies for Winning NaNoWriMo

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NaNoWriMo is coming up next month, and authors all over the country will be sitting down at chaining themselves to their laptops, ipads, or notepads to scribble out a “winning” story – 50K words in 30 days (and don’t forget, Thanksgiving is in there too). So here are my tips for getting to 50k by November 30th. 1) Plan Out Your Story in Advance: This isn’t absolutely necessary – some of us are born pantsers, after all. And of course, if you are a plotter, you can plan out your story with varying levels of detail, from a note scribbled … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Jamie Fessenden

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Jamie Fessenden

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today, Jamie Fessenden – Jamie is an amazing writer whose work spans the distance between Viking History to Contemporary to Sci Fi, and includes the recently released book Violated, that deals with the aftermath of a sexual assault. Thanks so much, Jamie, for joining me! J. Scott Coatsworth: How would you describe your writing style/genre? Jamie Fessenden: My style is fairly clean and concise. I don’t like to have any wasted words in … Read more

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Point of View: Six Steps to Prepare for Your Adoring Public

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I’m about to meet one of my adoring fans. OK, so they’re also a great friend and writer, so it’s not the same as meeting a fan (or fans) cold. But it got me thinking – what are the things any writer should do before meeting their fans? So here’s my list – I hope you find it helpful: 1) Shave and shower. OK, so the shaving part may not apply to everyone. But it’s important to give a good impression to your fans. Sure, in their minds-eye, they see you in your writer cave. But they imagine it as … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Vance Bastian

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Vance Bastian

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today, Vance Bastian – Vance is an amazing writer, a talented voice-over artist (who also does audio books, if you’re interested), and and one of the founding members of the WROTE podcast. He’s also a helluva nice guy. Thanks so much, Vance, for joining me! J. Scott Coatsworth: How would you describe your writing style/genre? Vance Bastian: Slightly snarky, fan-boy urban fantasy with hidden linguistic gems. I love inside jokes that don’t detract … Read more

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Point of View: Trouble Right Here in River City

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River City Chronicles

I’m about to embark on a brand new adventure, something that I as a writer have never done before. I’m going to write a serialized piece of fiction, a story that unfolds slowly and publicly week by week on my blog. And as if that weren’t enough of a challenge, I’m going to release each new episode simultaneously in both Italian and English. Several things have come together recently to make this possible: I started a new blog for myself as a writer in June, which needed content I published Between the Lines with Dreamspinner Press in July, a magical … Read more

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The Weekly Fix: Re-Life Part Four – The End

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Re-Life

Hey all, Today’s the day for The Weekly Fix. Every Thursday, I’ll add a new scene or chapter of a free story, until the whole thing is here on the blog – and then I’ll add it to its own page on the site. It’s a great way for you to test drive my writing, for free! Here’s part four – the final part – of “Re-Life”. Hope you like it! Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four They left the hostel, and Jozy summoned transportation. A v-winged taxi like the one that had brought him … Read more