When I was little, my absolute favorite activity was curling up on my bed under my purple tube lights with a book. I would spend hours on end exploring other worlds, meeting new people, and going on wonderful adventures.

As personal websites became more mainstream (WOW I feel old just typing that sentence), I loved looking up my favorite authors, eagerly exploring the burgeoning interwebs in an effort to learn now things about the books I loved so much. I would dive deep into website archives, search for blog posts and internet articles, and watch interviews. I devoured all of it.

It wasn't about the authors themselves (sorry, Tamora Pierce), but rather about the world they had created, the stories I had lived over and over in my many re-readings. I thirsted to know more, to expand my understanding of this alternate universe I had discovered.

Now, as I prepare to publish my first book, I have done a lot of things - and dedicated a lot of time - to being true to that thirst for knowledge I had as a child. I have designed my own website to be user friendly, a landing page for people interested in learning more about the characters and the world. Once the book is published, I have a really exciting plan to build out the site and community even more, with new exciting resources for any and all who are interested.

​There are a million articles reflecting on the concept of writer's block - what it is, why it happens, and what it says, existentially, about you.

This is not one of those articles. I promise there are lots of good ones, and I encourage you to google for them. I'm not concerned with what writer's block is, or what it says when my motivation dips - I want quick, easy ways to get through it. That's what this article is for.

​In my humble opinion, food makes any situation better. One of my favorite movies is Oceans 11 (who doesn't love classic George Clooney?), and in that move Brad Pitt's character is eating in almost every scene. Something about that quirk feels very real to me - because I, too, am eating in almost every scene of my life.

When creating a fantasy world, food is one of those things that helps add dimensionality to the environment. Think about it - when we visit new places, one of the first things we do is explore the food there. You get off a plane or out of a car, and stop at the nearest coffee shop or burger joint. Food defines a lot of different places - Maryland Crab, Chicago-Style Pizza, New York Bagels....the list is endless.

Everybody loves a good villain, and often, stories live and die by how well the villain has been written. In this blog post, I'll both review common types of villains and when they're typically most useful, and discuss some tips and tricks for making your villain a believable bad guy - no matter what archetype you choose.