Tag: Writing
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Short Story News Roundup
Got some news on a few upcoming short story publication dates! “Mortem Moratus” First up, my 2,000 word short horror story “Mortem Moratus” is scheduled to be published by Exquisite Death in their December 2025 issue. This story was originally written for the 2024 NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge. This…
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Second Book Blues
I know I’m not the only author to feel this, but since Gas Giant Gambit came out last month and I’ve been neck deep in the first draft of my second novel, Shallow Trenches/Open Skies, something has felt off. It’s a difficult-to-name feeling. I only know that it seems like…
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Where Did the Idea Come From?: Shallow Trenches/Open Skies
I often struggle with coming up with blog topics, so I’m constantly on the hunt for interesting ideas. This week’s comes from a suggestion I found on Goodreads: Where did you get the idea for your most recent book? The path to the idea that sparked Shallow Trenches/Open Skies is…
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My (Round-About) Path to Publishing
With Gas Giant Gambit officially out in the world, and with big news pending on that front, I feel that it’s a good time to talk about how this all happened in the first place. I think it’s important to stress that there is no “right way” to get your…
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Gas Giant Gambit: Ray
When I’m figuring out my main characters, I like to fall back on one trope in particular: the Freudian Trio. Once you’re aware of this trope, you start to see it everywhere, but perhaps the best example of it is Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy. McCoy is the…
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Gas Giant Gambit: Kirkus Review
If you follow me on my various social media platforms, you may already be aware of today’s topic–but my book is coming out in ten weeks, and this counts as marketing, so you’ll just have to bear with me! On July 1st, I got an email from my publisher letting…
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Why I’m Publishing Gas Giant Gambit Traditionally
One of the things I dislike about the writing community is the negative discourse regarding trad vs self-publishing. We’re all writers, are we not? Of course, I can see where the soreness comes from on both sides, but I think it’s all noise, really. In my opinion, neither traditional nor…
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Gas Giant Gambit: The Arm
About eighteen months ago, I shared a post about the main setting of Gas Giant Gambit: Las Ráfagas, the fuel mining outpost where all the action takes place. Now I want to pull back a bit, and introduce you to the larger world, in which Las Ráfagas is just an…
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Gas Giant Gambit: Moe
Way back in November of 2023, I wrote a little bit about the protagonist of Gas Giant Gambit, Gus. Now, with the release date coming in hot (September 16, 2025!), I feel it’s time to get back to that topic, and introduce you to a few more characters, starting with…
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Book Research
One of the things I love most about being an author is the research. That may sound boring to many, but I have a passion for learning. I love that “aha!” feeling when you understand a new concept or learn some interesting or fundamental factoid. If I could have remained…
E.S. Raye 