One Ring to rule them all…. No. Not that kind of ring. Though Tolkien did use this structure in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Ring structure or chiastic structure is a device to tell a story. An ancient device. It’s also one commonly used when applying literary alchemy, which I started to discuss […]
Year: 2018
The In-Between
I’ve been assaulted lately by butterflies. I don’t mean just that I see them everywhere on my morning walks (though I do) or that they will be waiting for me in bushes and on top of my car as I walk out of meetings in the middle of the city (they are). They fly at […]
Literary Alchemy
Yes, literary alchemy is something I have spent some time studying. The goal? To profoundly affect your readers by allowing them to transform vicariously along with your main characters. The model has been used for centuries. Shakespeare used it. CS Lewis used it. JK Rowling used it. Suzanne Collins used it. The writer of Breaking […]
Booklaunch.com -Review of Tim Grahl’s program
I’ll get right to it. Tim is the real deal. I have signed up for a few paid courses, the first was Ads for Authors with Mark Dawson. I knew Tim Grahl from following the Story Grid and Stephen Pressfield. So I went to a webinar Tim offered for free. His Author 101 course is similar […]
Grief & Change
So I have this theory. My theory is that whenever we try to change in any way for the better, we go through the stages of grief before the reformation is accomplished. I think that’s why there’s this idea of “putting to death the deeds of the flesh” in the New Testament. Certainly I’m experiencing this myself […]
Fighting Procrastination
I’m battling procrastination. They used to call it acedia. (You can go look it up if you need to, I’ll wait) Some describe it as sloth. Some describe it as apathy. They talk about it making you want to sleep in the middle of the day. It does do that. It also makes you want to go live on […]
How to Stop Time
I walked into an actual bookstore. An independent bookstore, yesterday. It’s one of my favorites. Carmichael’s Books in the Crescent Hill neighborhood of Louisville. And I bought a hardback volume of How to Stop Time. I haven’t bought a hardback at full price in a while. Not from a bookstore, where I’m standing at the […]
Fan Art & Lessons Learned
Ok so first off. My daughter did these drawings for me and she is amazing. Thank you Emily. If you need an illustrator I highly recommend her. Just comment below and I’m happy to get you in touch. The gryphon is N’khum and the gnome is Jax. The tomb is in the Angels chapter. I […]
Joe’s
There’s a chapter in Sorrowfish based on one of my favorite haunts. I thought I’d share photos of it today for those of you who know what I’m talking about. How could I not make this a setting? Enjoy. If you want to read, you can do so here till I’m done with my edits.
Contrast in Fiction
My daughter read several chapters of my book and complained loud and long. She knows I’m an advocate for lightjoy. I don’t like grimdark. But she said my book is dark, so dark. I think she’s right. It is dark in many places, many of them very unpleasant. But it made me think about what I mean by lightjoy. I’m […]
Losing Elvishness
I’ve been reading The Flame Imperishable as I work out a lot of things in my world. It’s analysis of Thomas Aquinas’ impact on Tolkien, and it’s been helpful to understand why he made his choices, and how. I also dug up the essay On Fairy Stories, by Tolkien –a 27 page footnoted pdf. He […]
Outlining the series
Some of you know I’m working with Long-Suffering Editrix® twice a week. Cheryl is a mentor, a coach, a cheerleader, sometimes a mommy and a kick-ass editor. I’m very thankful to have her in my corner. Even when she makes me think too much. Which is often. For instance, my homework this week is to outline […]
Wrestling with gods
One of the wonderful things about writing is the ability to create worlds, a fact Tolkien noted when he wrote his mythology. He referenced this obliquely when speaking of his Valar and their role in creation. But the idea was that this creation was a “concreation” or a “creating with.” And it allows us as […]
Angels
A goodie for my Wattpad fans and beta readers. If you remember the scene with Sara and Scott in a cemetery? Well. These are photos of the actual place, St Louis Cemetery. I’ll add more in a bit but I need to edit them. There are many mausoleums like ones pictured, but my favorites are […]
Contests and Inklings
Resource So if you want to get your feet wet in publishing, a cool resource is here. You’ll find places to submit your short stories and some good contests. The list is geared toward SFF authors. I’m going to be working on eight short stories for contests and such, not sure if I’ll submit them. […]
Ice Monster Prologues and Try-Fail Cycles
So. Working through my story grid worksheets and various and sundry other editing helps. The videos from the Writing Excuses guru Dan Wells were on my menu this week. I started to watch them months ago and got sidetracked. So this week they got cast to the big screen and dissected with the Man, my […]
The Avalanche of Battles
UPDATE: Stephen Pressfield has a new War of Art mini course and a new site for the War of Art. Check it out here. It’s kind of funny that I started to write this post when I did. I was going to describe how Resistance, when unable to distract you, derail you or discourage you, […]
Stab it With a Fork
You might hear me quote Stephen Pressfield a lot. It’s his fault I’m writing fiction. He’s become something of a virtual mentor to me. Certainly The War of Art and Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t should be required reading for any aspiring author/poet/dancer/artist/musician/entrepreneur. If you’re creating, they will save you much heartbreak. Stephen has […]
Thoughts and Prayers
I heard someone ranting yesterday on the Twitter… several someones… ranting about “thoughts and prayers.” About how they’re the equivalent of air guitar. An empty gesture. Such a statement says much about the one who said it, but I did relate to his feeling. Many times if we do pray, we’ll feel like it has […]
Story Grid and Genre
So, after getting several resources I’ve already discussed (which I’m still using) I also obtained the Story Grid book and am deep into it. It’s perfect. I understand it and it is exactly what I needed. The genre bit was difficult for me at first, I thought they meant sales genre. But no. Click above […]
Sample Scene Edit
I’m going to show what I’m doing in my revision process because I think it will be helpful and it will serve as a reference for when I forget what I’m doing. I’m using Revising Your Novel, First Draft to Finished Draft by Janice Hardy. NOTICE: This is NOT The first chapter in the book. […]
TLDR on Revision
I’m busy. Click the little bird. ok, should likely blog this but no time and tldr right? am revising myself before I submit my work to editor (after checking in w wise people) Started here and got to step 5 https://t.co/iMhmSdkDS1 and then got these three books… — ACMiles (@A_CMiles) January 29, 2018
Kindle Scout, Book Covers, and a Favor
Before I get into this too much I wanna plug my completely talented and amazing friends, W & W Sawday. You may also have noticed me plugging them on Facebook and Twitter. I don’t plug something unless I really like it and I get nothing from promoting them. These guys are undiscovered as of yet […]
Read and Record the Session to Edit your Fiction
Ok so I’m reading out loud to edit Sorrowfish and I’m recording it. I wanted to show you guys what I’m doing in case anyone wants to do the same. I’m using a Mac mini and an ipad for this and am making mp3s.You don’t actually have to make mp3s at all, I’m just making […]
Religion in Fantasy Worldbuilding
I got in a discussion yesterday about Christianity in fantasy. The blogger I talked to had proposed Tolkien didn’t introduce Christianity in his work and wondered why then it was the default in so many fantasy works. So anyhow, in the course of the discussion I basically concluded that a lot of the early fantasy […]
Sigh, Kingsman 2 you got Kentucky so Wrong
So we watched Kingsman 2 last night. Aaaaaaand their counterparts are in Kentucky. Making alcohol. So here in no particular order, are my reactions to their use of Kentucky as a locale. 1. It’s bourbon, not whiskey. Jack and coke is from TN, not KY. 2. We don’t wear cowboy hats unless there’s a rodeo […]
Fell Folk
We don’t have Fells in Kentucky. We have knobs. I think they’re likely not that different. I love this guy’s blog and pictures of the fells. Good article about the knobs region of Kentucky here. The knobs are forested and that to me is the biggest difference. The lakes and hills I’m seeing in the […]