In July of last year, Stevie and I began a crazy journey to start a literary magazine. Together, with some wonderfully talented authors and artists, we are about to see all of that hard work pay off with the release of our first issue of the Hungry Chimera, this Wednesday! It’s hard to believe it’s almost here (and that it’s actually happening). It has been a real treat having these stories, poems and art pieces, all to myself (with the exception of Stevie). I’ve grown very a

According to author Ian Irvine, there are three main components to a story: Conflict, action, and resolution. I reviewed the importance of conflict in our latest podcast, and for this blog I want to focus on action. Action is vitally important within writing. Your mind may immediately jump to an epic battle, as seen in The Lord of the Rings, as the epitome of action within writing. But, action is just as important on a smaller scale. Let’s say your character is running late f

As writers, our ultimate goal is to be published, but how do we become the writer that publishers are looking for? The best way to set the course for success is to better our writing and keep bettering our writing until we get published. Never stop. In our latest podcast on the creative process, I mention that we should never believe that our writing is good enough. We should always be striving for that next level up. It may seem unreachable, that next level, the one after th

I recently submitted to a writing contest. The NYC Midnight: Short Story Competition, to be exact. It was scary, it was difficult, but in the end I felt so much better for choosing to stand up to the challenge. Have you ever thought about submitting to a writing contest before? If not, I would like for you to consider this quote from late sports journalist, Howard Cosell. He said, “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you