Oh! Hey there! Yeah, soooo….about life. It can be hard sometimes. The last [checks notes] four months have been hard in the stupidest possible way. Like, nothing was happening to make life difficult. I was thriving in my day job and I’ve pretty much settled into a decent routine of visiting my dad in assisted … More Happy Belated New Year
Like millions of others, I recently went to see the Barbie movie. Unlike most of the audience, it would seem, I was fully aware of Greta Gerwig’s previous work and was looking forward to the feminist manifesto we were all about to witness. I was not disappointed, and neither were those who went simply to … More Men in Pink
Between writing deadlines, committee deadlines, and navigating my dad’s health issues, life has been super stressful this spring. Now that the writing deadlines are done, the committee work is all caught up, and my dad is safely settling into an assisted living facility, I gave myself permission to veg out over Memorial Day weekend and … More Refilling the Well: A Roundup
It’s been a little more than a week since I finished my first Futurescapes writing workshop. I’ve been meaning to do this write-up ever since, but I had a beta read to do, some admin work to catch up on for various groups I help run, and the Nebula Conference was this weekend. Needless to … More My First Futurescapes Workshop
One of my favorite fun activities is playing board games. For many years in the Before Times, I hosted a board game party on New Year’s Day because it forced me to start the year with a clean house, and getting to play board games with my friends was a reward for the cleaning. Carrot … More Board Game Bonanza!
I’ve always worked best when there’s a deadline involved, so this spring has been extremely productive for me. For just over a year, I’ve been working with The Ubergroup, a developmental editing program that works in six weeks cycles with a week off in between. It’s been incredibly helpful to have those cycles to help … More Writing To Deadlines
No one warned me that getting a puppy would mean arguing with said puppy every time it rains. Princess Buttercup is not quite a year old, but her Pembroke Welsh Corgi stubbornness is full-grown. At least, I hope it is. I don’t think I can handle her getting any more stubborn! Anyway, she has OPINIONS, … More Rainy Day Puppy
One of the most consistent (and most consistently annoying) pieces of advice I’ve gotten over the years is to write short stories and submit them as part of trying to build my brand as a writer. I’ve found the advice to be annoying mostly because I love epics, stories that build a world where I … More Join My Short Story Club!
Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate! If you’re perpetually single, like me, may you find an abundance of your favorite heart-shaped candy in the clearance aisle later this week. Personally, I’ll be on the lookout for Reese’s Hearts. Mmmmmnomnom. What’s a perpetually single woman doing writing sci-fi romance? Aside from the escapism of it … More Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’ve been meaning to write up this blog post for a while now so I can drop links to it instead of typing it all out again every time I want to explain it to other people. Synopses are the bane of most querying authors’ existences because if we could tell the story in two … More The But/Therefore/Meanwhile Synopsis Method
Esmari Writes 