Creating Archetypal Characters and Suspenseful Plots with the Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s Journey can be a powerful plotting framework for genre fiction. For more than a year, I’ve been teaching workshops on it, and in July, at the Harriette Austin Writers Conference, I expanded the workshop, folded in material about … Continue reading

Autumn 2009 Mini-Tour Into Western North Carolina

Early 10 September, I set out from Raleigh in a rental car — didn’t want to put my poor, old Honda through the rigors of the Eastern Continental Divide again — and arrived in Boone, NC in good time for … Continue reading

Five Flights, Four Days: the Harriette Austin Writers Conference, 17-19 July 2009

During the Friday morning rush hour, the Metro was packed. Sardine cans. On my first attempt to climb into a car, the work-bound barbarians repelled boarders. The next train was just as stuffed, but I was darned if I was … Continue reading

The Carolina Writers Conference

The Anson County Writers’ Club, South Piedmont Community College, and the Carolina Romance Writers teamed up to present the Carolina Writers’ Conference on Saturday 4 April at the Lockhart-Taylor Center in Wadesboro, NC. For their first conference, they did a … Continue reading

Redcoats in Hillsborough, and a Recap of Kris Neri’s Class

Here’s a fun little slice of history. In early 1781, General Nathanael Greene and his army retreated across the Dan River into Virginia ahead of the pursuing Crown forces in North Carolina commanded by Charles, Lord Cornwallis. The famous “Race … Continue reading