Madeline Turnipseed - Author

Hello friends! Yesterday I read this post  about what makes a successful blog.  It's geared for authors with blogs, but it could really apply to anyone with a blog.  It made me think about what I'm offering and consider ways I might branch out and change that content. FictionChick First off, if you are one of my thirty or so regular readers, a big THANK YOU for your readership.  Even though I'm pretty sure all of you know me in real life, I appreciate the fact that you are taking time out of your week to show me some internet love.  Thanks guys! Secondly, what is it that you would like to see me talk about on the blog?  More reviews?  More writing advice?  More talk and updates about my writing?  Giveaways?  Interviews?  Let me know in the comments, either here or on social media.

Hello friends!  I finished my critiquing on Tuesday (yes I know that's past the deadline I set, but it's done) and this week I've been getting back in the mindset I had last November when I started writing The Neif . I downloaded what I had written as an EPUB file so that I could read it in a non-editing platform.  This is important.  If I had tried to just go back through my Scriptito files, I would have stopped every three sentences to change something and never would have gotten through it. luve Here is what I learned: 1) Line edits are much needed.  I have inconsistencies in terms used ("light" for "day," whether or not Neif is capitalized and in what context).  My language is blocky in places as a result of me trying to be more formal and eliminate all contractions in speech.  Also, passive voice is really bothering me, and it never has before, so that's something I'll have to take a good look at.  In other words, it's a re...

Hello friends!  I am 2/3 of the way through my remaining critique and haven't added any words to The Neif yet.  I'm happy with this progress, after all I have until the 15th to finish my critiques. But I'm ready to be writing again, and I think I might need something to help me power through the summer and finish my first draft of The Neif .  I need something like the NaNo that helped me put 50,000 words on paper.  Fortunately, such a thing exists. NaNoWriMo is run by the Office of Letters and Light ,  which also runs a number of other programs for writers of all ages.  One of these is Camp NaNoWriMo.   This is a more flexible form of NaNo in that "campers" can create their own word count goal and only have to write 50k words in the month if they want to.  There are also no regional groups.  Campers are assigned to cabins of twelve either randomly, with writers that are close to their age or similar to their writing, or can specifi...

Hello friends! As a status update, I've finished one critique and added 0 words to The Nief,   so one critique and half a novel to go. Minute progress, but progress nonetheless. The more I read speculative fiction, the more I find myself unable to root for protagonists.  They are The Chosen Ones which inevitably means that they have little to no agency, they are the most ignorant character in the story, their friends risk (and sometimes lose) everything to help them, and they have to win in the end to meet the requirements of the story, so I'm not worried that they themselves will die, therefore feel that nothing is at stake.  (Shut up, ASOIAF fans, that is an exception.  Plus, if you thought Eddard was going to be the protagonist for the series, you weren't paying close enough attention.)  In addition,  their character arc usually requires them to transcend their humanity in order to overcome the Big Bad Guy, which is typically some non-human or trans-hum...