What makes a good story? What elements are most important when crafting a story? There are no simple answers to these questions, as it really depends upon the kind of story being told, and what serves as its focus. For me, though, the root of all good stories lies with the characters. Here I will outline how I determine character quality and how I craft characters for my own stories, because in my conception all stories must begin with compelling characters. Ultimately everything else falls into place around them.
Now, it …

The old dream of writers doing nothing but writing is pretty much dead unless you’re a bestseller like Stephen King. Instead, even with traditional publishing, writers need more than just the ability to craft well-told stories. Writers need a friggin’ hat-rack to hold all the extra publicist, marketer, and advertiser hats. With self-publishing, that hat-rack is even bigger.
That’s all well and good – artists in other mediums have needed tertiary skills like this for a while – and it’s probably time for writers to catch up. That’s cool. I get …

So, now I’ve finally done what I claimed I would likely never do.
I am blogging. Yes, yet another random person hurling their random thoughts onto the net in the hopes that someone will care enough to read them. I had the same reaction to joining Facebook a year or so ago, but folded under the constant nagging of a friend of mine.
But do not expect me on Twitter. EVER. There’s a line, dammit.
So, who am I? What do I have to write about, and why should anyone bother reading what …