Cowgirl Contemporary Fantasy

I love to wake up to hear the sounds of grass and tree leaves rustling, mixed with the song of the western meadowlark and the wind whistling through the crevices in the wood and steel outbuildings. Out of necessity, I must listen to the sounds of car horns, airplanes, and dogs barking, and have done so for well over a decade. The hardest thing I have ever done is to walk away from the farm and ranch, knowing it would not flourish under my hand.  I still think of myself as a cowgirl, but I find myself without  a cow. Perhaps that's why I write: to take myself away from the scent of refineries and pavement and back to, as Tolkien puts it, "good clean earth."  But dreams only last as long as sleep, and one cannot sleep forever. As I step forward in my life, I often wonder if my footsteps will ever be able to turn toward the Badlands, and I pray that God sees a path that I cannot. But for now, trapped near pavement I must be, but I long to see scoria roads ...

Tweet The Popularity of the Psychopathic Character The psychopath is a perennial favorite character-type amongst authors in every genre, though they are most often used in mysteries and thrillers.  Often authors get the very nature of the psychopath incorrect.  I'm not a criminology expert, but I've studied them extensively, both on my own and through my sociology coursework, and seeing a story with an unrealistic psychopath is an instant turn-off for me. I've long wanted to do more than screech incoherently at the television or book that portrays them as the product of abuse or other fallacies, but the topic is quite large and I've been hesitant to broach the subject.  Tonight, I'm fueled by enough caffeine to wire a moose and I'm trapped inside by yet another winter storm.  I've decided to do a series of blog posts based around the characteristics of a psychopath, and how we authors often get them wrong.  Myths about Psychopaths Wiktionary define...

Several months ago, I read a blog post about do's and don'ts for conference panels.  I would cite the author and post if I could remember where I found it, so I'm terribly sorry.  It may have been  Janet Reid's , but I can't be sure.  One of the no-no's was asking a question that was truly a thinly veiled pitch.   Example:  "How do you think a story about robots that pick your nose would sell?  I can show you what I'm talking about, as I have the manuscript in my hand." Earlier today, I participated in my first UF Chat on Twitter.  It was a blast and the discussion was great, and the other participants seemed very knowledgeable.  Several of them are published, and I had a question I wanted to ask regarding the genre of my novel, The Rider of Nealra .  I was afraid to ask, just in case I might look like Robot Pitch Girl above.  Just before I actually asked, though, my toddler woke up and I had to leave.  Several par...

I noticed that there have been several conversations on Twitter lately that have been trying to define urban fantasy.  I just attended a session that tried to do just that at the World Fantasy Con in Columbus, OH.  The panel was comprised of authors Holly Black, Michele Lang, Cinda Chima, and Stephanie Robertson. To sum things up, urban fantasy: holds hands with paranormal romance and contemporary fantasy. is often influenced by the mystery genre. takes place in the modern world or in the future. is comprised of weird stuff in the real world.  (This is the most broad and my favorite.) can have an open or closed world. Much was said regarding open or closed worlds in urban fantasy, mainly because the very heart of the genre involves blending the real with the imaginary.  The authors defined an open world as one in which the general population is aware of the supernatural/magical elements of their world.  A good example in my mind would be Kim Harrison's ...