Literary Tropes Are Like French Fries by Laurel Osterkamp

Laurel Osterkamp wants you to know that literary tropes are like french fries, a good treat that can be used to add flavor to a story.
https://writersfunzone.com/blog/2025/04/18/literary-tropes-are-like-french-fries-by-laurel-osterkamp

#WritingTips #dystopiansociety #genre #genrefiction #humor
@indieauthors

Review: "Riders of the Purple Sage" by Zane Grey -

Grey's classic Western lives up to its reputation of trope-filled storytelling while also surprising in lush scenery, realistic and tense action, and unexpected resolutions.

https://youtu.be/sf1yx0v5TU0

How to Write Funny: Essential Humor Writing Tips for Authors

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https://www.ingramspark.com/blog/how-to-write-funny

#WritingYourBook #Inspiration #WritingandEditing #Genrefiction
@indieauthors

Final Weeks! Join the horde and help Returned finish strong! Books ship by May!
Links in bio!

Had a great time yesterday talking #solarpunk with @pkmutch and her brilliant class of entrepreneurs at #OCAD ... over video of course. Had a great time discussing the valences of #Utopia, trends in #ScienceFiction (#CanadianScienceFiction specifically) plus #IndigenousFuturism and #Afrofuturism

How To Sell Your Funny Fiction https://selfpublishingadvice.org/how-to-sell-your-funny-fiction/ #Process5&6:Marketing&Promotion #bookmarketing #comicfiction #Funnyfiction #genrefiction #humorwriting #DaveCohen

Kobo Writing Life Podcast – 360 – Developing Your Creative Genius with Michael Dante DiMartino https://kobowritinglife.com/2025/01/07/kobo-writing-life-podcast-360-developing-your-creative-genius-with-michael-dante-dimartino/ #middlegradefiction #indiepublishing #KoboWritingLife #self-publishing #writingadvice #KWLCommunity #genrefiction #multi-media #KWLPodcast #multimedia #publishing #YAfiction #podcast #writing #Kobo #tips #KWL

YOUR OPINION: Which cover do you prefer?

What if the US biolab at Fort Detrick was compromised and the key to fighting the pandemic fell into the hands of a sinister cartel ... if the Black Death re-emerged from the thaw...

My novel Terminal Warfare: Lady, Scientist, Lover, Spy is homage to John Le Carre.

#books #bookstodon #thriller #mystery #espionage #spythriller #pandemicthriller #dystopian #strongfemale #mythicwoman #genrefiction #literaryfiction

https://www.amazon.com/Terminal-Warfare-Scientist-Lover-Anthropocene-ebook/dp/B0CKQGTBCC

The Chicago Newspaper Scene and the Origins of 10 Story Book

According to a 1906 overview of the history of fiction-focused periodical publishing in Chicago, the rise of Chicago-based literary story papers such as the Chicago Ledger and the Saturday Blade was fuelled in part by the rise of mail-order catalogue-based retail giants in that city and their advertising needs.

#PeriodicalPublishing #SpicyStories #Magazines #PulpMagazine #PulpMagazineHistory #PulpMagazines #Fiction #PulpArt #Pulp #LiterarySyndication #ShortStories #SerialFiction #GenreFiction #Genres #LiteraryGenre #TheRedBook
#Newspaper_PublishingHistory #10_StoryBook #ComicBookHistory

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/the-chicago-newspaper-scene-origins-of-10-story-book/

A large part of enjoying #Fantasy #ScienceFiction #SFF #GenreFiction (for me) is the suspension of disbelieve, aided by internal consistency.

Now reading the classic #MemorySorrowAndThorn books by Tad Williams, and none of the measurements, weights, distances, actions, etc seem to fit in a consistent way.

It bugs me, to be honest.

Just backed Strange Horizons' crowdfunding. Looks cool.

Low enough that even if I don't read it, it's money well spent.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/strangehorizons2019/strange-horizons-2025

I spent some time last year experimenting with inks and color. A fun stint - a lot harder than it looks! Props to the pros for making it look effortless
#art #yascifi #superhero #design #format #artistlife #writerlife #authorlife #illustration #sketchbook #sketching #drawdrawdraw #booknerd #reader #readmorebooks #novel #paperback #youngadultfiction #superheronovel #typography #viral #newreleasebooks #make #cleanbooks #cleanscifi #bookstagram #edits #genrefiction #fiction

It's that time of the month again when I take a second to mention that I facilitate a monthly series of #writing #webinars.

They're usually a little over an hour long, counting the Q&A session.

This month's topic is "Crafting Evocative Prose: The Essence of Captivating Storytelling." We'll be going live tomorrow (March 9) at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Signups are free. More information at https://janecleland.com/event/crafting-evocative-prose-2024/

Been reading/listening to Ursula K Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea recently. I can't put my finger on why, but I'm not finding it as affecting as Left Hand of Darkness.

Have you read the Earthsea books? If the first one isn't hitting for me, should I still give the next one a try?

Let Me Tell You
excellent essay musing on "show, don't tell" as used in literary fiction vs. the needs of genre fiction by @ceciliatan
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/let-me-tell-you/
#LiteraryFiction #SciFi #Fantasy #Writing #WritingCommunity #GenreFiction

I recently started using Matrix and I'm looking for recs of public rooms that talk about genre fiction. I see a lot of science fiction, no mystery or crime fiction rooms per se. I'm looking for ppl who might want to join my Fans of Robert B. Parker room: https://matrix.to/#/#rbp-fans:matrix.org

Vampires take so many literary forms these days, which is why world-building becomes so important. Helping us in that task? It's Nicoverley—welcome to Team Vamp, Beverley Lee & Nicole Eigener!

Writing the Occult: Vampires happens 28 October. Tix on sale next week via Alex Davis Events / Eventbrite.

It was a long time since I last read the #DeathgateCycle, and thoroughly enjoying book 1 #DragonWing. So many great plot twists and original ideas in the first 200 pages already.

I vaguely remember that the number of twists slow down after a while, but what a great ride this is going to be.