Short stories appear to be undergoing a renaissance. Hurray! I’ve always enjoyed short stories. I won’t say I like them better than novels or poems or any other form, but I enjoy having them on the menu, as it were.…
Monthly Archives: October 2015
Interview with Rachael Ritchey
Rachael Ritchey is the author of The Beauty Thief, a first in the Chronicles of the Twelve Realms series, who also hosts a weekly writing prompt on her website called Blog Battle. She’s a native Idahoan who knows next to…
Blog Battle
Blog Battle is a terrific thing I discovered on Twitter (using #BlogBattle), but it really takes place on blogs. Rachael Ritchey started it over a year ago, and it’s quite fun. I’ve participated many times now, and it’s always been…
Tagged with: #BlogBattle, Blog Battle, Cathleen Townsend, flash fiction, Rachael Ritchey, short story, writing prompt
Posted in Blogging
Posted in Blogging
Comma Abuse
Gasp! The horror! It’s just a poor, innocent little comma, and so many people abuse it. But I know that none of you want to be part of this terrible trend, so I thought I’d run through some of the…
Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, comma splice, dependent clause, FANBOYS, independent clause, predicate, subject
Posted in Writing
Posted in Writing
Help! I’ve Lost My (Writer’s) Voice! A Remedy For Allegedly Lost Writers
This is yet another excellent post by the inimitable Dan Alatorre. He has some suggestions which are not only excellent for writers seeking to revitalize their voice, but also for those who are stalled in their writing. And face it,…
Interview with Alon Shalev
Alon Shalev lives and writes in two worlds. He is the author of three social justice-themed novels including Unwanted Heroes, and an award-winning epic fantasy series. He’s convinced there is a connection. In 2009, while on a family camping trip in Northern California,…
Tagged with: Alon Shalev, At the Walls of Galbrieth, From the Ashes They Rose, interview, The First Decree, Unwanted Heroes
Posted in Author Interviews
Posted in Author Interviews
Solitude–A Poem for Writers
Today is National Poetry Day. Hurray! It’s the sort of thing that gives me hope for humanity. Only problem is, I don’t have a favorite poem. I have something like forty. All I can say is go read Shakespeare, Kipling,…
Petition to Change the Amazon Review Policy
I’m making another of my forays into activism. But this should be one that any author or reader can understand.Amazon has recently begun discounting reviews on its site. I like Amazon generally for what it’s done to even the playing…
Using a Comma for Contrast or Effect
Purdue says, “Use a comma near the end of a sentence to separate contrasted coordinate elements…” https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/607/. Like so many definitions, this one needs some explanation for it to actually make sense. As covered in More than One Adjective–Comma or…
Cathleen Townsend 