Guest Blogger - Christine Norris

Hello! As you’ve probably guessed by now, this isn’t the usual blogger. My name is Christine Norris, and I’m a children’s fantasy author. I’...

Time Traveling with an Epilogue

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows [no spoilers, I promise!] and once again I must tip my hat to J.K. Rowling for...

When One can't Decide

Sometimes, one of the hardest things is to try and decide what book to start next. There are so many stories to be told, so many little tidb...

World-Building 101

Something Xandra said in her latest blog got me to thinking...I know...just about everything gets me to thinking. But when she mentioned wor...

Paint Chips

I've spent the past few months making trips every so often to Lowe's and Home Depot and loading up on paint chips. I have a stack a...

Kick A$$!

I’m lamenting the fact that I have so much to do (August 1st deadline, need I say more?) and so little time before I must pack my things to ...

Is Too Much of a Good Thing is Still Too Much ?

Since I missed my day this week, I decided to wait until the freebie days to post. Sorry, but I'm recovering from surgery and at the beg...

A thimble full of facts about Conflict

I get the feeling it's conflict week here at Star-Crossed. I don't know why I think that...it's just one of those psychic feelin...

Conflict works - with care

Reading the entry by my esteemed fellow author *grinning and waving* I thought I'd put my own thoughts to the topic. Conflict is what ca...

The Trouble With Conflict

It's said that Story is Conflict. Guess what? I suck at conflict. At a workshop taught by the fabulous Jennifer Crusie, she let on tha...

Friday the 13th: A Week in the Making

I usually don’t give much credence to the superstitious, spooky occurrences of Friday the 13th. Though I have on occasion had small bouts of...

Wednesday Whining

I’ve been trying to lose weight...well, all my life pretty much. But in the past two or three years I’ve tried really, really hard. I eat fa...

The Science of Fiction

I did something this week that I haven’t done in a while. I picked up a non-romance book to read. Like clearing the pallet after a spicy mea...

I Just Did It

No, I didn't just come from seeing "Transformers" - though I have a feeling that I'll have a date with Optimus Prime in th...

Chicks. Dig. Giant. Robots.

I am not going to rush out looking for a yellow Camaro. I will not poke every tractor-trailer at the truck stop just in case it does someth...

What Has TRANSFORMERS Taught Us?

Let’s look at the technical, real-world application for authors—cross promotion. Have you seen those commercials where the cars transform an...

Sci-Fi French Films & Immortality

In the last week I’ve watched two French sci-fi films, both using a combination of CGI and graphic art techniques. The films were delivered ...

Monday Moaning

This is Monday, right? That's why I'm rearranging my office. Dusting the furniture. Throwing out Very Important Stuff that I've ...

Two new releases...

I'm hijacking the blog today to let y'all know about my latest releases. There were two in June, both from Changeling Press. Firesna...

Summer Heats Up

At a loss for a good blog topic, I thought I’d give you a little preview of my next release. Coming in July from Amber Quill Press, here’s t...

The Power of H

As I sit here packing up goodies for my lucky June contest winner, who will be chosen on Wednesday, I’m reflecting on the letter H. I have a...

Publisher Closing

I'm sorry I didn't post on character values yesterday. To be honest, I just wasn't in the mood. Earlier this week, my publisher ...

The Evolution of Character Values

When I think of character values the first thing that comes to mind is change. Since a major theme in most of my stories is redemption, the ...

The Value of a Character

One thing that fascinates me about stories is the way characters learn and grow through the course of the story, or in the case of villains ...

Character values

all righty great topic! LOL Values - I guess, looking back on my characters - that they have several main values, but one that stands out...

The Good, The Bad, and The Murky

I don't like straight good guys/gals, and I don't like straight bad guys/gals. I believe all characters have to have a little bit of...

Character Values: "Others First"

When we decided to do Character Values as a theme, I thought what are character values? I know the difference between a good character and a...

The Magick of Free Books

You know how, when you have kids, you rediscover all sorts of old childhood haunts from a completely new perspective. Amusement parks, regul...

Creating Believable Worlds

Creating Believable Worlds I began my writing career as a straight SF/F author way back in the dawn of time. And as a part time teacher of f...