Unicorns and Crowns

For years, I've talked about writing and expressed great hopes that I would finish (and publish) something one of these days. Now such a dream is on the brink of coming true. Tonight, I completed my first story that I plan to put in the public's eye.  It's about my Beowulf, and it's called The Wolf at the Door. It started out as a short story. Then I found I had a lot more to say, so now it's a novella, just a little shy of 20,000 words.  It's about a young girl named Mavie, about 11 years old, who runs away from home after a bad fight with her family. Naturally, she regrets this almost right away, and now she's all alone, hopelessly lost, and scared to death. Beowulf finds her (or she finds him ) and helps her get home in one piece.  Not a terribly complex story, but I believe this will be a great way to introduce Beowulf as well as put my writing chops to the real test.  Of course, there's still a lot of proofreading and editing to do, and th...

There's enough time in the year for one more blog post, and I always like to end on a positive note, so today's focus will be on one of my most likable (and personal favorite) characters, Kyla.   While I will admit my stories mostly revolve around men, I try to come up with a good, strong woman here and there. I don't like women who are wishy-washy, nor do I care for so-called heroines who try a little too hard to be tough.  I especially can't stand sex-hungry idiots who become hopeless martyrs in their "romantic" relationship; the relationship comes off as more of an extremely unhealthy obsession. It puts an extra sour taste in my mouth when their abuser is "so hot"; it would be a thousand times more disturbing if the guy wasn't such a hottie. Yes, I'm looking at you, Isabella Swann, Anastasia Steele, Harley Quinn, and Cersei Lannister.  I prefer heroines who balance out the scales: they're nice most of the time, but when the occasion...