by Sierra | Jan 24, 2018 | Poetry
Heaven was closer when I was youngerI saw it in the hue of the soft evening skyHeard in a hymn the glory of eternityFelt the Father’s love in my earthly father’s touchMy plans for the futureAmounted to little more thanMaking my library books last the weekRushing...
by Sierra | Jan 15, 2018 | Articles
Your writing career can literally kill you.No, I'm not talking about starving to death or freezing in the winter, as some of your dubious relatives might have predicted will be your fate as a “poor” writer. Or your mother's warning that you'll expire from vitamin D...
by Sierra | Dec 22, 2017 | Articles, Plot
"The first page sells this book. The last page sells your next book." This simple yet helpful saying encapsulates the most significant characteristic of endings: they determine the final state you leave readers in. What state do you want that to be? If it's a...
by Sierra | Nov 6, 2017 | Articles, Characters
You did it. You’ve sketched out a great cast of protagonists, a detailed plot, and a genuinely scary villain (the last part was a cinch after an entire month of articles on the subject here at KP). You begin writing furiously while your excitement’s fresh,...
by Sierra | Sep 8, 2017 | Short Stories
Arthur Blakeney hated September. He didn’t despise fall’s arrival, or his students’ return to his one-room schoolhouse, or even the picking of apples and pumpkins. He once welcomed all these changes and more, but now they evoked dread instead of pleasure. The...
