May was a fine month. It saw not only the release of my new middle grade anthology, Woodland Tales, but also the completion of one novel rough draft, the final review of another book, several drawings to accompany them both, and a few extra improvements to other works and the beginnings of my research processContinue reading “Plans for June”
Author Archives: J. S. Allen
Happy Memorial Day!
Let us take a moment today to remember those who have given their all for this country. If any veterans are reading this, my sincerest thanks to you as well.
Writing Nonfiction
Needless to say, writing nonfiction is a very different experience from writing fiction. The most obvious fact, of course, is that while with fiction your only limits are those imposed by yourself, with nonfiction your job is to posit straight facts. This can lead some to believe that nonfiction is a more restrictive or boringContinue reading “Writing Nonfiction”
!!! Book Release: ‘Woodland Tales’ !!!
After three weeks of being on pre-order, I am pleased to announce the official release of my new short story anthology, Woodland Tales! For those of you who have pre-ordered already, my sincerest thanks. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, go check it out here.
The Dark Art of Poesy
Most folks I’ve met have a definite opinion of poetry. They either love it or hate it. As a general rule, I’ve always put myself in the latter category (excluding songs, which many of us poetry-haters like, ironically). I’ve always looked on it a bunch of overly long words used in short, choppy sentences loadedContinue reading “The Dark Art of Poesy”
The Art of Translation
One of the trickiest kinds of writing imaginable is translation. For while there is a creative element in that the translator must decide the exact wording involved, it is more restricting in that they are still someone else’s words he is working with. And then of course there’s the fact that one has to knowContinue reading “The Art of Translation”
Happy Mother’s Day!
To all you hard-working mom’s out there, thanks for everything you do. May this day be a good one for you.
Writing Dialect
Picking up on my topic of world-building from last month, dialect is one of the best (and in some cases trickiest) ways to add realism to your dialogue. After all, nothing indicates that a particular person is from elsewhere like a strange way of talking. But how does one transliterate another’s way of speaking intoContinue reading “Writing Dialect”
Plans for May
April was every bit the month I’d hoped, at least as far as writing was concerned. I completed the final review of my book series, drew a more complete-looking map to accompany it via some mapping software (future post topic for sure!), and continued to work on another rough draft. I also reviewed for oneContinue reading “Plans for May”
Formatting a Fiction Manuscript
This one’s been done to death I know, but there’s no harm in going over it one more time. When you give your work to a publisher, the editor will almost always expect you to follow certain conventions regarding the format of your manuscript, and in some cases it can make the difference between acceptanceContinue reading “Formatting a Fiction Manuscript”
