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Sandra McDonald
Writing at the intersection of Whimsy and Bleak
Recent Activity
April books: Lehman, James Altucher, female space captains & asteroids
I'm very much enjoying the audiobook of Lawrence McDonald's A Colossal Failure of Common Sense (11 discs, each more fascinating than the last.) The history and downfall of Lehman Brothers is not something I'd normally pick up, but it is a fascinating story and I feel a kinship to McDonald... Continue reading
Posted Apr 4, 2016 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Being wrong, loving Rey
Posted Mar 29, 2016 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Congratulations to Cranky Ladies
Posted Mar 29, 2016 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Star Wars and the Fallen Hero
New Star Wars trailers: love the epic nature, the cinematography, and of course Han Solo. As a teenager I took the train into Boston with my best friend 18 different times to watch The Empire Strikes Back. But I went to the first Star Wars movie in 1977 because of... Continue reading
Posted Oct 26, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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The Martian is the Gay Hero that Earth needs
When we think about blockbuster science fiction films with gay heroes, the list is horribly empty. Until now. The Martian -- a terrific film by Ridley Scott, based on Andy Weir's book -- has a gay character as its lead, if you decode the signs and read the absences for... Continue reading
Posted Oct 26, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Summertime and quantum physics
Recently I was reading a review of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee and loved the bit about the Southern pastoral, "in which summer is always called summertime." (Read the review here) My summertime has been full of many things so far, including writing and publishing and physics. Not... Continue reading
Posted Aug 17, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Stuck driving your story forward? Try an inspiration board.
After the first burst of creativity in a story (Hello! Nice to meet you!), sometime I get bogged down in the actual paragraphs. What seemed like the perfect narrative in my head turns out to be far trickier when it gets to the page. If you too are a writer... Continue reading
Posted May 28, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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How My Worst Vacation Became a Published Story
Posted May 26, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Are you writing this weekend? 10 minutes will do.
Posted May 24, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Andy Weir's plot works great. Yours can too.
Posted May 22, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Top 10 Tweets about #Transgender
Posted May 21, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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First pages are hard. Here's a checklist for you.
A first line that ends with a punch. A first paragraph that hooks the reader. A person, group of people, or personified object. (You can even make a place a character too.) A color tied to the theme. An image. Markers for the genre you're writing in. A hint or... Continue reading
Posted May 15, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Your fiction needs a voice. Here's why.
A few weeks ago, Julie Czerneda and I ran a 1st Page Critique workshop at a fan convention in Orlando. I'm still impressed by the great writing we saw, but the ones I most remember had that elusive and priceless element: voice. I wish we'd had more time to spend... Continue reading
Posted May 14, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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Your first paragraph is a rocket ship.
The first paragraph of any piece of fiction is like a rocket on the launchpad. It must ignite in a reader the desire to keep reading to the next paragraph, and the one after that, and then again after that. A misfire means the reader's attention will likely wander off,... Continue reading
Posted May 13, 2015 at Sandra Ad Astra
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