by Melinda Snodgrass | Mar 28, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
So I’m adapting my Edge books as a potential TV series. There is a reason I picked a novel — in fact a series of novels — and I have George RR and the success of Game of Thrones to thank for that. Hollywood is now eager to pick up properties based on novels, particularly novels where there are multiple books. I’m writing the pilot now, and even if it doesn’t got as as show it’s a new writing sample for my manager which is all good. As for using my own...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jan 11, 2015 | The Craft of Writing
I want to give a shout out to Pat Rothfuss index.asp. There is a very valuable writing lesson in his novel A WISE MAN’S FEARS. I had read THE NAME OF THE WIND when it first came out, and now I finally picked up Wise Man’s for my trip home to New Mexico for the holidays. I’m very much enjoying this book. Kvothe is a terrific character, and the framing device selected by Rothfuss works beautifully. But today I’m here to praise a choice that he made in Wise...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Aug 14, 2013 | The Craft of Writing
So Library Journal has weighed in with a very nice review of BOX OFFICE POISON. I am baffled by the reaction to these Linnet Ellery books. Is it just because I broke the urban fantasy trope by having the supernaturals be in positions of real power and authority instead of hiding in the shadows? Because I had my protagonist be a professional woman who doesn’t have a stiletto up her sleeve? I have joked to my editor and my agent that when we reissue the Edge books I ought to have them put...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 28, 2013 | The Craft of Writing
I just finished reading Daniel Abraham’s third installment, THE TYRANT’S LAW, in the Dagger and the Coin series. This is a terrific novel and just continues to up the stakes and tension from the first two novels. I adore the characters, particularly Clara. I love the fact that banking and the role of money plays such an integral part in the plot. It’s rare that economics is mentioned much less analyzed in most science fiction or fantasy novels, but money is a superpower,...
by Melinda Snodgrass | Jun 10, 2013 | Blog, The Craft of Writing
“They want leadership. They’re so thirsty for it they’ll crawl through the desert toward a mirage, and when they discover there’s no water, they’ll drink the sand.” So says Lewis in Aaron Sorkin’s wonderful film The American President. In the movie they’re talking about leadership, but I realized that this quote can apply equally well to creators. Thinking about this quote made me realize that writers are leaders, taking their...
by Melinda Snodgrass | May 27, 2013 | The Craft of Writing
A few months ago I had sent out a tweet about the power of myth and how you deny it at your peril. My off-handed remark was read by Aidan Moher who runs the website A Dribble of Ink. He contacted me, and asked if I would do a guest post for his site jumping off from that one throw away line about myth. I was both flattered and intimidated, but I tackled it, and it forced me to really think about stories. Why I like them. Why I tell them. What about them makes them work. Well, my...
