Recent content by Joe McM

I just let my imagination go. I also have spiritual muses essentially who help inspire me.

Welcome, Karmesim!

Yes. I’m a spirit healer. My fantasy series is about a young gay boy who discovers he’s both a physical healer and a spirit healer, and facing challenges and dangers as he does so. So there are many elements that reflect my journey. The characters have some bits of me, my husband, and others...

My books are targeted for a young adults. So, I too have that in mind. For my world, I might create a plant that regrows limbs or bone, perhaps in conjunction with an infusion of healing energy. Thanks for helping think in a new direction.

I like it. I hadn’t thought about inventing a plant specific to a fantasy world. All the plants and herbs I have in my first book are from real-life herbal books. A few of my characters, including my main character are healers.

I also don’t like editing. But they’re all correct about its importance. What helps me through is alternating editing one novel wit’s writing the next.

I included a flashback, as part of a character’s musing. This secondary character was searching for the main character and remembered when he first heard about the as yet unnamed main character.

I used to write the documentation for a CAD company called Ashlar (now Ashland Vellum) that developed designed wireframe and 3D software. The 3D software was called Vellum Solids when I left there in 2000.

I’d suggest just going for it and enjoying it. Set aside any judgment. When I started writing my novel I decided to write what would be fun. After I completed one, I moved onto another idea that would be fun. Each led to inspiration after inspiration. I ended up writing 50 pages or so of...

Thanks.

That’s what I thought. Thanks.

Thanks ThinkerX

What’s the prevailing thought about the use of passive voice in fiction. I come from the technical writing world where it’s to be avoided. That’s also true for the non-fiction world, at least for self help type books. My thought is it should also be avoided but there are times that it’s ok...

After editing my book many times, I noticed that the length seemed to affect the pacing of the story. Many of my chapters have multiple scenes. I realized that breaking up a long chapter gave me a psychological breather, for want of a better way of explaining it. That said, I have both short and...

My novel is mostly serious but I add character quirks and eccentricities to include moments of humor and lightheartedness.