On Writing

Read more about the article [Interview] Jessie L. Kwak – Author of From Chaos to Creativity – Armed with A Book

[Interview] Jessie L. Kwak – Author of From Chaos to Creativity – Armed with A Book

I had a fantastic conversation with Kriti from Armed With a Book about my obsession with productivity and the journey from chaos to creativity. We dove into why so many of us are fascinated by productivity – a blend of hustle culture's pressure and the sheer joy of bringing our numerous ideas to life. I shared the moment I realized I needed a creative system rather than just a productivity system. It hit me after I left my "real" office job to freelance, only to discover the challenges of managing my own schedule and finding time for my fiction writing.…

Read more about the article Who gets to be a villain?

Who gets to be a villain?

As a child, I loved the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty — but probably not for the reason I was supposed to. I suffered through Aurora's sappy yearning for love. I yawned at the Prince (. . . um, Erik?) and his earnest escapades. I loved the Flora, Fauna, and Merriwether of course — who doesn't appreciate a gaggle of adorable witchy aunties who are just doing their best at adulting? But I watched Sleeping Beauty for my idol. Maleficent. She had power. She commanded minions. She was fierce and strong. She did whatever the hell she wanted. Yes, cursing a…

Black Lives Matter

I originally sent this out to my newsletter subscribers. You can read the full newsletter here. Also, big shout out to the readers who emailed me back — you're all rad. I appreciate the conversation. Hey there. Every once in a while someone tells me that the society I created in the Bulari Saga is unrealistic in its inclusiveness. Yeah, I know. But I wanted to explore a world that didn’t have systemic barriers in place to exclude people on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation, ability, or race.  As I’ve cheekily put it in the past, I wanted to create…

Read more about the article Writing a World in Glimpses

Writing a World in Glimpses

Two years ago, I wrote the short story that gave me my first glimpse into the Durga System. (It was published in the second volume of Bikes in Space, a fantastic series of feminist bicycle science fiction edited by Elly Blue.) In that story, Willem Jaantzen was the villain — but as I expanded on the premise of the original short story I became more and more fascinated by him and his crew. (If you've read Starfall, you've been introduced to Starla already; if you've read Negative Return you've gotten to meet Manu.) Since those books came out, I’ve written another…

Read more about the article Want to help me write my next novella faster?

Want to help me write my next novella faster?

Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash (This is the first post in a series about how arthritis affects writers, and what we can do about it. TL;DR version: I’m doing a writing fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation and you should donate here if you want to read my next book sooner.) One night, after a few glasses of wine, I signed up to ride my bike 70 miles a day for 3 days to support the Arthritis Foundation. 70 miles a day — for 3 days. (I'd really better start training.) The intimidating distance aside, I'm really excited about this fundraiser. Why? As…

Read more about the article Camp Nanowrimo, Day 1 – and a request

Camp Nanowrimo, Day 1 – and a request

Have you ever done Nanowrimo? It's National Novel Writing Month, which happens every November. People around the world take on the challenge of writing a novel (50,000 words) in one month. I participated years ago and enjoyed the challenge of writing daily – plus, the excitement of hearing everyone else's progress is really enlivening! About a week ago, I heard about Camp Nanowrimo. It's the "summer camp" version of Nanowrimo, where you can set your own word count goal, then shack up into digital "cabins" with other writers in order to share encouragement and feedback. I decided to sign up on a…

Read more about the article The anti-Nano: Bikes In Space novel revisions

The anti-Nano: Bikes In Space novel revisions

While other writers are hoping to add 50,000 words to their manuscripts this month, I'm on the mission to delete 10,000 from mine. Yes, I'm revising. I'm currently hard at work making sense of the first draft of my Bikes in Space novel for Elly Blue and Microcosm Press, which will be published in spring 2017. It's based on the short story I wrote for Elly's second Bikes in Space anthology, although the world of the novel has certainly grown and shifted from what I first imagined in that story. (Want to read that story for free? Head here.) Revisions are tough, but it's one of…

Read more about the article The Art of Collaboration

The Art of Collaboration

This post was originally published on at Four Windows Books, a project I'm working on with my friend Christine Smith. The Novel Incubator A while back, I interviewed Lucrece Borrego about her Brewery Incubator project in Houston. The project met a need – home brewers who were interested in getting into commercial brewing, but didn't have the capital or expertise to dive right in unsupported. The Brewery Incubator would give them the space and equipment to work on their craft, as well as connecting them in to a community of beer enthusiasts who could give them feedback and encouragement as…