Author: BJ Sikes, author

by Matt Frick I didn’t write ONE sentence of my current book project this week. Not a single word. But man did I make some progress! I told y’all how I like to outline the entire story in multiple levels of detail before I really get to writing a manuscript [Planning: The Importance of Outlining (for […]

via Start from the Middle: How One Single Idea Just Changed Everything — A Writer’s Path

I love this idea of a “mirror moment” where the protagonist looks at themselves in a (metaphorical) mirror in the middle of the book, revealing who they are and where they’re going.

Smashwords is presenting E-Book Week from 4-10 March 2018. You can download over 75,000 e-books for FREE, including my novel The Archimedean Heart. There’s no catch, just free books. The site has so many freebies, it might be hard to find my book, so here’s the direct link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/648549.

You’ll find all the info at https://www.smashwords.com/ebookweek.

Andrea Lundgren wrote an interesting piece about turning an old story (and aren’t they all?) into something fresh and yours.

I think the crux is really finding something new to add to the story, say a different perspective.

Read more at How to Make an Old Plot New

Short story writing contest, open-ended.

Since embarking on a sci-fi dystopian novel, I wonder about my “usual” genre of historical fantasy. Yes, I love to read historical fantasy but is it the right one for me?

<wrings hands>

A great read about the subject: via Admitting You Are Writing In The Wrong Genre #SundayBlogShare #writers

Ms. Spruzen talks about techniques to make sure your characters sound like they live in the era you’re writing about. Nothing throws me out of a historical fiction story more than modern dialogue.

via …Authoress friend, Dorothy Anne Spruzen, illustrates how easy it is to misuse ‘period’ WURDS…

My latest story, “Prophecies of an Electric Man,” has been published! This short novella appears in The Clockwork Oracle, an anthology released by L.E.G.

The Clockwork Oracle Amazon listing is live.

My story in The Clockwork Oracle is set in the world of The Roboticist of Versailles. The main character (the Roboticist of Versailles herself) is Adelaide Coumain, one of the leads of The Archimedean Heart. This is my fourth story featuring her. I love Adelaide. She’s definitely got a lot of me in her. She is a lady-scientist in a field dominated by men so she has to push back to not be trampled.

In this story, Adelaide is still trying to get her Automated Dauphin to function and the appearance of a stranger with a mysterious device diverts her in a new direction.

I will have paperback copies of The Clockwork Oracle for sale at Clockwork Alchemy in Burlingame, CA, March 23-25th.