Author: marylowd

I think I’m very nervous about Zooscape re-opening to submissions tonight, at a significantly higher pay rate.

I don’t expect to be instantly inundated with submissions, because I expect it to take a while for the information about the new pay rate to filter out. Continue reading “Re-Opening Zooscape”

I noticed years ago that when I was at all uncertain while writing, I’d have the characters smile. It served no story purpose, just a nervous tic, attempting to ensure they were likable. I stopped doing it, and it made my writing stronger.

Just now, seeing yet another post about women being told to “smile more,” I realized the connection between that attitude and the bad habit I had developed in my writing. Continue reading “Too Much Smiling”

Which actor on Buffy/Angel would make the best Doctor?

I’m going with Amber Benson as the Doctor and Alyson Hannigan as the Master. Benson has such a complex—vulnerable but clever—demeanor, and we know from Vampire Willow that Hannigan is delightful when evil. Continue reading “White Board Thoughts”

I’m watching Underwater (2020), and it seems to have a monster that should interest me… but I’m barely paying attention.

Now, sure, I could TRY HARDER to pay attention, but I’m watching it for fun. And also, I’ve learned from being a slush reader to trust my instincts… Continue reading “Baseline Normality in Ocean Horror Movies”

Me: *time to write!*

My brain: *hmm. writing is hard. how to avoid it?*

Spouse: “Jeff Daniels has a kind of Bill Pullman vibe.” Continue reading “Bill Pullman Vibe”

I’m trying to work out a schedule for the book I’m writing, and my desire to finish the book soon is very much in conflict with my desire to not require myself to write very many words per day.

I’ve been kind of floundering with writing this book, and I think it’s partly because I thought I could rely on the same strategies as I used for the previous book in the trilogy, which I wrote last fall. Continue reading “Tricks and Gimmicks”

Tuca & Bertie is like furry fiction raised to the power of furry.

The anthro animals eat anthro food that goes into their anthro stomachs. They send anthro texts to each other on anthro phones. All inside anthro buildings filled with anthro appliances.

Everything. Is. Furry.

I’ve received more than 1700 rejections. I keep track of them in a spreadsheet.

I’m really practiced at being rejected, and most of them roll right off me.

But even after all that practice, some rejections hurt more than others.

Sometimes, a rejection can still knock me flat. Continue reading “Knocked Down Flat”

Well, I watched The Blair Witch Project. I feel like the witchy stuff would’ve been more effective if I hadn’t spent most of the movie thinking those characters were doomed to die in the woods anyway, just because they were unprepared, lost, and running out of food & water. Continue reading “Blair Witch Project”

In a little over two weeks, Zooscape is going to announce that they’re raising their pay rate, with the goal of becoming a SFWA-qualifying market by the end of the year.

In order to afford the increase in pay, Zooscape will have to publish fewer stories. Continue reading “Zooscape Going Pro”