A Safe Place for Stories
There’s something called self-compassion. She’s the Cinderella of identity paradigms–scorned, ignored, and sent to scrub everyone else’s feet. Her evil step-sisters are Self-Esteem and Self-Hate. Keep that in mind. I want to tell a story. It’s the story of Story. A child sits snug in bed. His parents tucks his blankets around him. They tell…
Writing the Last Chapter for the First Time
Endings can be a relief. Endings can be new beginnings. Endings may not be endings at all. Writing the last chapter of All Light and Darkness was all three of these for me. All Light and Darkness is my first complete novel. I’ve attempted writing novels since I was fifteen years old. I’ve started many.…
The Beast that is Audience.
In my past life, I was a pioneer–one of those 19th century folk in covered wagons that you saw in 8-bit playing Oregon Trail. And when I died from dysentery, I must’ve skipped my drink at the River of Oblivion. The reason I bring this up: When people bring up social media platforms, I’m totally…
Alien Armageddon and the Bailiwick of Guernsey
I lived on the Island of Guernsey for two months doing cultural research. I travelled all over the island and became very familiar with the history and stories there. I love the complexity. I also love the culture. It’s the kind of place where the locals prefer hiking boots to heels.The reason I chose this…
Review of 2020 Goals and Goals for 2021
Review of 2020 Goals Screw 2020. Goals for 2021 I’ve come to a significant realization. But let me backtrack first…Supposedly well-written goals follow the SMART rules:1. Specific.2. Measurable.3. Attainable.4. Realistic (which seems redundant to me, but hey, we want to stick with the cool acronym).5. Time-bound.Following these rules is supposed to guide goals to be…
The Chapter from Hell
Nine months. That’s how long I’ve been working on one chapter. Granted, that one chapter has turned into four chapters now, but still… NINE MONTHS! I now have half a chapter left and that section will be done. HALF A FREAKING CHAPTER!!! Why is it so hard! And it has been hard. I’ve gotten myself…
Review of 2019 and Goals for 2020
2019 Stats: “All Light and Darkness” outline complete about 30,000 new words and 25,000 revised 3 submissions and 0 sales Goals from 2019: 2 new short stories 20 submissions 1 pro sale I am no longer writing short stories. Short stories requires a direct and fast-moving plot with stream-lined world-building. Novels require immersive details and…
My Reading Heritage; My Writing History
Previously, I mentioned a little about my introduction to the worlds of science fiction and fantasy. My first science fiction experience was The White Mountains, the first book of The Tripods series by John Christopher. My 4th grade teacher read it aloud. When she finished reading it, she read the first chapter of the second…
Review of 2018 and Goals for 2019
Review of 2018 Newly written: 3 short stories, 2 flash fiction, and 1 novel (1st draft) 29 submissions (0 acceptances; 32 rejections (4 carried over from 2017); 1 pending) Goals from 2018: 3 new short stories 30 submissions 1 pro sale (WOTF doesn’t count) Complete a novel no matter how badly it turns out. (10…
Trunked Stories
I recently started listing my “trunked” stories beneath my progress bar. I want to take a moment to explain why. Trunked stories are those stories that have been set aside by the author for whatever reason. Maybe publishers just weren’t interested. Maybe the writer identified a major flaw. Maybe the writer simply grew out of…
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Amy Henrie Gillett 