Monthly Archives: July 2016

There’s a New E-zine in Town–Interview with Madeline Stout

Posted on July 29, 2016 by cathleentownsend — 4 Comments

I met Madeline through Absolute Write, a site which I highly recommend for writers looking to polish their skills. Madeline posted a submission call for her new magazine there, Fantasia Divinity, and I submitted my short story, “Unicorn,” to her.…

Tagged with: Fantasia Divinity, Madeline Stout
Posted in Author Interviews

Lessons From a Border Collie

Posted on July 25, 2016 by cathleentownsend — 20 Comments

A couple months ago, I went to a shelter to adopt a new dog. I came home with Finn, a two-year-old border collie. The important thing you need to know about Finn is that he’s a fanatic. If I bend…

Tagged with: border collie, Cathleen Townsend, Finn
Posted in Reflections

Tool Thief

Posted on July 19, 2016 by cathleentownsend — 24 Comments

“We’ve got to keep better track of our tools today,” Tom said as we pulled up to our jobsite. It was a beautiful brick addition to the community college in Santa Rosa, about an hour north of San Francisco, traffic…

Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, fantasy, short story, Tool Thief
Posted in My Stories

The Nod and Smile Editing Passes

Posted on July 11, 2016 by cathleentownsend — 13 Comments

A reasonably common piece of advice is to be careful not to overuse the words nod and smile. Beats are a lovely alternative to dialogue tags, but we can’t go to the obvious wells too often. I knew this. I’d…

Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, editing, smile and nod, verbs, writing tips
Posted in Writing

The Taste of Fear

Posted on July 4, 2016 by cathleentownsend — 25 Comments

Fear comes in many flavors. There’s the adrenaline rush, so addictive for some that they seek safe forms so they can experience it on demand. There’s the sick dread of seeing something coming and knowing there’s no way to stop…

Tagged with: Cathleen Townsend, flying, plane crash, short story
Posted in My Stories