Ten Black Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors to Read Now

Shortly after I submitted my last Speculations, COVID-19 made its presence felt. The world shut down and we all self-isolated and waited for health authorities to tell us that the danger had passed. It hasn’t. Then May 25, 2020 arrived, and 8 minutes and 46 seconds changed everything. Though George Floyd was not the first,… Read more »

Five Ways to Commit to Self-Education

“Write what you know.” It’s the most eye-rolling of writing cliches, isn’t it? Yet it’s a cliche because it contains an element of truth. You can’t write about a mechanic unless you know something about cars. You can’t write about life in 1935 unless you know something about world events, fashions, and technology from that… Read more »

#5onFri: Five Daily Word Count Figures of Famous Writers

It’s amazing to realize how writers occupy completely different modes of existence. We all share the same reality, but at a deeper level, we dwell in creative worlds dictated by our routines.  There are larks among us who strike their keyboards in the early morning. Then, there are nocturnals, for whom nightfall portends creative output…. Read more »

A Bouquet of Comics

My first deep impression of anthologies was as texts in poetry school. I still have a shelf dedicated to these early intros to poetry: The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, Imagist Poetry: An Anthology, Great Poems by American Women: An Anthology. In the literary arts, collections like these register a kind of arrival to such… Read more »

Creating Discussion Questions Using Your Book’s Themes

Do you love talking about the books you read with friends, classmates, or your book club? (I know. All of us word nerds love to do this, right?) So maybe you’ve noticed, either online or in the back matter of some of the books you own, that authors or publishers sometimes share discussion questions for… Read more »

#5onFri: Five Steps to Starting Your Food Writing Career

So, you want to be a food writer, but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone! Scan the internet, and you’ll find everything from recipe blogs to featured magazine articles on a single ingredient. You may think: I love food, but I’m not “qualified” to write about it. Good news. You don’t need a… Read more »

Writing Outside of Your Comfort Zone

The world is a mess right now. The United States is a mess right now. And we cannot pretend like what has been happening and what’s continuing to happen isn’t happening. And I just wanted to name that here before going any further. Everyone has the right to engage in social justice in different ways,… Read more »