Madeline Turnipseed - Author

How cute is that?!?  If you're my Facebook friend, you probably saw the plate of cookies that our Realtor gave us at our closing.  I've been nibbling away at them all week, and I saved the prettiest (and biggest) for last.  I wish I knew who made these so I could give them a shout out, these are the best Royal iced sugar cookies I've ever had!  They've been exposed to air all week and haven't dried out at all.  And, unlike most store-bought sugar cookies, these actually had flavor that wasn't preservatives or plastic packaging. This week, as promised, I'm posting my writing goals for the remainder of the year.  I'm doing this to ask you guys to keep me accountable, and so I can't just say, "Oh, I've been meaning to, but..."  Deadlines are a big motivator for me, so here goes. 1) I will finish all committed critiques by June 15th, and any forthcoming critique requests will be scheduled according to my availability and the author...

I've been bad, friends.  I've let excuses keep me from writing. Some were legitimate at the time I made them (I have to study for a test), but then they gave me an opening for more excuses (I've been working really hard for class, so now that it's over I can take a break and go on an anime binge). The point is, I haven't been writing.  So I'm done with excuses.  I'm making goals and reporting to you guys to keep myself accountable.  Here's what I have on my plate in the writing department: 1) I have critiquing that I've already committed to complete.  This spring I've done way more critiquing than writing, and it's been one of my excuses.  I'm going to cut down on the amount of critiques I'll be doing in the future.  If you're a writing friend I know in real life, (or that I took an online class with)  I'll still be happy to critique manuscripts. However,  I'm cutting down on my Scribophile critiques. 2) I need to finis...

Hello friends!  Tuesday I had the great pleasure of attending a joint signing of Mary Robinette Kowal and Marie Brennan in Houston.  Marie was fascinating, Mary delightful.  My plan was to not only get some new books, but to also report back to you with many pictures and witty observations.  Unfortunately, my inner fan had other ideas, but I think you will still enjoy the results. First off, I arrived at the signing way too early.  The event was held at Murder By the Book in the museum/university district of Houston.  This part of H-town is lovely if you have time to drive around and can find a bathroom that you don't have to pay some sort of admission or parking pass to use, and I ended up having some time to explore.  Initially, I had figured that both these authors had won awards for their work, there would be a huge crowd of fans for me to compete with, so I should get there two and a half hours early, just in case.  Nope.  I was the...

First off, this post is not an argument for or against the death penalty.  This post is not arguing that criminals are products of society.  This post is not making any sort of statement about the incarceration systems in this country.  This post is not holding up death-row inmates as martyrs.  This post is not denying or glossing over the heinous things that have been done to innocent victims.  I just want to make all of those things clear before I begin. If you have any inkling of current events you know that earlier this week a convicted felon, scheduled for execution, died in unintended circumstances.  These circumstances are currently under investigation, so I will not dwell on them.  Suffice it to say, witnesses to the execution report that it was uncomfortable and unsettling to watch, and that this felon was not sedated when he should have been, resulting in an inhumane death. That is still not what this post is about.  This post is a ...

Happy Friday!  Over the past ten weeks, I've been completing an introductory level Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing class online from Gotham Writers .  My husband gave it to me for my birthday back at the beginning of the year. If you are unfamiliar with the layout and format of an online Gotham class, they have an online tour  here .  Gotham has both online and brick-and-mortar classes in their physical location in NYC. This class is set up to help aspiring writers in the field of speculative fiction hone their craft.  In that respect, it focuses more on craft than it does the speculative fiction.  I've heard that "general" creative writing classes tend to be geared towards literary fiction and can be unfriendly towards genre writers, so it is good that there is a place where we are welcome.  Selections from spec-fic writing were used as examples, and the students are expected to be working on spec-fic projects, but the main focus of the class...

Happy Friday, friends! Over the past few weeks, I've been thinking about feedback that I've gotten on my pieces and feedback I've seen others receive.  If you're a relatively new writer, or at least new to getting critiques, it can be difficult to receive critiques with grace.  What's even more difficult is figuring out if what you've gotten back is useful.  Here's how I evaluate my feedback to decide what advice and suggestions to keep, and what to discard. 1) Is this person in my target audience? Your target audience is a rough approximation of the demographic that you see being a fan of your work.  Whether it's YA, something geared more for baby boomers, whatever, you should have a pretty good idea about who this is by the time you're getting feedback, if not before you start writing.  If they are in your target audience, give their suggestions greater weight. 2) Is this person a fan of other works in this genre? This goes along the same l...

Hello friends, happy Friday!  Last week bumped the blog over the 2k view mark, which is awesome.  Thank you for reading and commenting!  (You should comment more!) Anyway, today I'm reviewing Shades of Milk and Honey  by Mary Robinette Kowal .  If you haven't read it, but her name is familiar, you may know her from the Writing Excuses podcast.  Yes, Shades  came out in 2010, and I am a bit behind the curve ball, but let me explain.  When I started listening to the Writing Excuses podcast a year ago, I started waaaaayyy back at the beginning of the series, and Kowal didn't come on to the podcast until about July of last year, by my progress.  (I believe she actually came on as a permanent member back in 2011, but I cannot confirm for certain in the five minutes I spent combing their website.)  I loved everything Kowal was bringing to the podcast and I knew her work would be just as wonderful.  But I had excuses, so I didn't pic...