point of view

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POINT OF VIEW: Finding the Character Heart

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fire heart - deposit photos

One of the first criticisms I received as a newbie writer was that my characterization was a bit thin. Readers loved my immersive sci-fi world building and my intricate plots, but my early characters fell a bit flat. Ever since, I’ve been on a journey to learn how to delve deeper into the hearts of my characters, to make them really come alive on the page. I’ve made some good strides, but I still sometimes come up short. Before I start a new book, I do a few things to learn more about each of my primary characters before diving … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: In the Shadow of Giants

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People shadows - deposit photos

This week we lost another great writer. Anne Rice passed off this Earth, leaving behind an impressive legacy. While I was never a big Rice fan, I was still in awe of her storytelling ability, and how she almost single-handedly created the sexy vampire (and the gay one, too). Sadly, many spec fic writers I idolized as a kid are no longer with us – Asimov, Clarke, Tepper, Le Guin… Each one had their own recognizable voice, their own stories to tell, and an audience waiting eagerly for their next book. Asimov thrilled me with his Foundation novels, and his … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: We Are A Community

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candles - pixabay

A couple years ago, I was preparing for an hour-long, solo author appearance at a local bookstore to promote The River City Chronicles. I was writing down all my ideas, along with a list of the websites Mark and I have created over the last twenty years, and a common theme emerged. Community. All my life, I’ve searched for people to connect with. First as a gawky teenager, hanging out with the rest of the geeks at lunch under the gnarled old pine tree on our high school campus in Tucson. Then I looked for other writers, helping to form … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: A Week in Shit City

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Save the World

I’m neck-deep in shit. Not literally, thank the stars. And if you thought this was going to be a column about what an awful week I just had, you’ll be sorely disappointed. The COP26 climate change conference just wrapped up in Dublin. And while the latest accords and agreements weren’t nearly enough to stave off the worst effects of climate change, still it was something. Governments around the world are finally starting to get serious about the issue after receiving pressure from us, the people. Whether it’s too little, too late remains to be seen. With this as the backdrop, … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: The Monster at the End of This Book

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The Monster at the End of This Book

When I was a kid, I had a few favorite picture books. At the top of the list was The Wump World – and it’s so freaking relevant now in regards to the human-driven nature of climate change that it’s scary. Get this book for your little kids NOW (and read it yourself). In a similar vein, I loved Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, about the ills of deforestation and the impacts of environmental degradation on the world and humankind. But one of my all-time faves was the Little Golden Book called The Monster at the End of This Book. It … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Thirteen Years (Or Twenty-Nine Years) Later

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Mark Scott Wedding

Thirteen years ago today, on a rainy Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, I had the most amazing day of my life. I married my prince, my one true love, on a beautiful terrace in front of our closest family. It was our second wedding – the first was a hastily-arranged affair four years earlier, when then-Mayor Gavin Newsom threw open the doors of City Hall for gay and lesbian couples for the first time. And while that one didn’t stick, this one did, and remains one of the sweetest and most precious moments of my life. I still remember vividly … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: For the Love of Words

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Scott Millennium Falcon

I was a chatty, cheerful kid who loved words – speaking them, reading them, and even writing them. When I was in first grade, I joined the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Program. It was something that happened only because of a bit of childhood fraud on my part. On my way home from school in kindergarten, the teacher had given me a note to take home to my parents. I was not much of a reader yet, but I scanned the words, pretending to understand it, and the teacher noticed. A few weeks later, I was being tested for … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Off in Another Direction

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Crossroads - Pixabay

So here I go again. I’ve tried so many paths on the way to becoming a successful author that I feel like I oughta be a trail guide: I tried the traditional publisher path, selling my stories to four or five small-to-midsize publishing houses. I’ve tried the hybrid route, where some of my books are sold through “trad” publishing and some are independently published. I’ve tried the fully self-pubbed option. I’ve gone narrow with Amazon and Kindle Unlimited I’ve gone wide with B&N, Kobo, Apple and Google Play, and even wider through bookstores and libraries via Ingram Spark. And I’ve … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Back to My Roots

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Mom and Scott

This weekend I’ll be releasing a brand new short story – one that’s never been published before anywhere. It’s called Prolepsis: pro·lep·sisthe representation of a thing as existing before it actually does or did so, as in he was a dead man when he entered. It’s a time travel story of sorts (though it’s only the mail that makes the trip back in time) about a sci-fi ‘zine whose editor is gay. The bulk of the story takes place in the fall of 1986, when I was eighteen. Although the protagonist is twenty-six, I drew on a lot of my … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Looking Down the Mountainside

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Looking Down the Mountain - Deposit Photos

It’s been a long, hard couple years. Mark and I do our best to find a little hope and joy every day, but it’s not easy in this environment of pandemic, fear, and hostility. And the writing life’s not easy either. As a writer, I sometimes fall down the black hole of disappointment. I haven’t worked hard enough. I haven’t climbed high enough. I haven’t progressed far enough in my career. By now, I’d hoped I would be a household name, with a big NYC agent, a series on Netflix, and a royalty check which would allow me to keep … Read more