For millions of years mankind lived just like animals Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination We learned to talk. ~ Stephen Hawking (Intro to Pink Floyd’s Keep Talking). At the beginning of the A to Z Blog Challenge I drew up a quick list of prompts…
Tag: A to Z Challenge
K is for Kismet
Definition: Kismet – n. fate; destiny I first discovered the word kismet when I was an adolescent in Grade 8 just bordering on the teen-age stage of “I know everything”. My grade 8 teacher was one of those teachers that comes along once in a lifetime if you are lucky….
J is for Journey
Like many things in this life, writing is a journey. Very few of us knock a home run out of the park the first time you sit down to write. Let’s face it, if it were that easy to do it would be boring. The challenge lies in mastering your…
I is for Imagination
Having an active imagination growing up as a kid was a blessing and curse for me. On the one hand I could see the wonder in the mundane world around me – the mountains of snow in the parking lot near my house became an alien landscape to explore. On…
H is for History
I’ve already talked a bit about my love for the history of words in my post E is Etymology or Why Do We Say It?, but my love of history goes far beyond just words. I’ve always been interested in local history, or history that is tied to a specific…
G is for Genre
When people ask me what type of stories I write, I eagerly tell them speculative fiction. The most common reaction is a blank stare and a repeat of the question “So what type of stories do you write?”. It’s an age old dilemma that writers continue to struggle with when…
F is for Fear of Failure
Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice. –Will Smith as Cypher Raige in After Earth One of the things that hold us back from realizing our full potential in this life is…
Why do we say it?
As a writer and someone who actively uses words as my building blocks, I am always fascinated by the origin of words. Today on the A to Z Blog Challenge I take a quick look at my love of Etymology – the study of words and their history and origins. Discovering…
Do Androids Dream of Philip K. Dick
I could have easily done a post for the letter D on Johnny Depp, but since I am already doing a year long tribute to Depp on my blog, I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about another big “D” in my life – Philip K. Dick. For…
Creativity and Conventions
I’ve always considered myself a fairly creative person and by creative I don’t just mean imaginitive. I like to create things. From making up stories to building websites and everything in between. As a kid I wanted to be an inventor, someone who took things around them and combined them in…