Category Archives: Writing Advice

Old Stories Into New: Come Take My Class on Retellings!

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Mandolin

Hey! Come take my class on retellings! October 7, 2017. (Secret: If you join my newsletter, or sign up for my Patreon at $1 or more a month, you’ll get discounts.) (It used to be called Retellings and Retaleings.) Authors … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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First Lines Part III: What Can They Do?

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Mandolin

Part I: Half a Dozen of My Recent Stories Part II: from Some of My Favorite Stories After giving close reading to a dozen first sentences, half mine and half others, I’m ready to make a list of things that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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First Lines Part II: from Some of My Favorite Stories

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Mandolin

Part I: Half a Dozen of My Recent Stories Continuing from yesterday’s post, I’m looking at the first lines from some of my favorite stories to see why they work. I picked stories that aren’t very recent, and are either … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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First Lines Part I: Half a Dozen of My Recent Stories

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Mandolin

I decided it might be interesting to look at some of the first lines of my stories. I’m grabbing a half-dozen first lines from some of my recent publications. I’m only looking at stories that are online, so if people … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The difference between draft 1 and draft 12ish of “Love Is Never Still”

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Mandolin

I thought it might be interesting to look at a passage from my most recent story, “Love Is Never Still,” as it existed in the first and last drafts. By the time I actually publish a story, I’ve often forgotten … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Writing Advice from Novelists: How to Start Your Second Book

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Mandolin

To support SFWA this year, I auctioned off a writing advice article on the topic of the bidder’s choice. The winner was Mark Tompkins whose debut novel, The Last Days of Magic, is coming out from Viking in March. Unsurprisingly, … Continue reading →

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