James M. Vargo Books

The excuse of slow-writing knows no bounds. At 60,000 words, I could pat myself on the back; but many others crush my speed with their dedicated writing schedules. No matter - I have excuses galore. (although, I have given up some activities for Lent that directly influence my own writing schedule - so hopefully I'll get moving here) Anyone who reads my blog entries, and bless you if you do, may realize that I rarely speak of good writing/criticism/grammar/punctuation. There are plenty that do, and they do it well. To write well takes practice, patience, and a whole lot of opinion -- the friendly stranger sort. My advice to writing well: join a writing group, and there are plenty online to do it. There I learned a lot, and I learned when it was no longer useful. (it is hard to critique chapter five without reading chapters one through four - grammar aside) As you may know, I'm all about world-building and being immersed in a solid story - even if it spans many books. The ex...

What to call this place? Besides, HOME! How does a writer, or storyteller (in my case), spend his/her free time? Well, aside from Twitter, Facebook, or other ventures to waste precious minutes we should be writing, there are those  strange searches .  I spent plenty of time this week looking up druids, shaman, tribal headgear, and synonyms for campfire. Invention is a wonderful thing, but sometimes writing about what we already know is better. History holds within weathered hands a boundless list of human tradition and events that should feed the writer's search for realism. Strange but true, realism is the key to good fantasy. Can anyone say, oxymoron? Well, now I stand on the slope of Mount Equinox, or more appropriately, the characters I have grown to know so well. Strange rituals, stranger alliances, and an altogether nasty creature called Grunthagamor -- I hope it all makes for a fun read. (and easier whenever my glossary is done)  If you want a hint as to whe...