Elisabeth’s Blog
A Long Overdue Update for 2022
Hi everyone. I hope you’re all keeping well. I’m long overdue a blog post, I know. Last year ended on a particularly sad note for me in that I lost one of my parents. Needless to say, my writing plans and projects had to be set aside in order to deal with the aftermath and…
Happy Holidays
Elisabeth and I know things have been quiet on the site the last couple of months. We want to reassure you we are still here. We’ve just been temporarily pulled away by real life. I am still working on finishing my story, A Haven of Peach Blossoms. And I am looking forward to starting some…
Elisabeth’s Blog
AI Authors
⚠ Rant alert What a former story writing judge shared in a group discussion I was in made my jaw drop. She told of a sci-fi writing contest she worked in not long ago. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners had been chosen out of nearly 100 entries and prizes awarded. Afterwards, she was contacted…
A Summer Reading List
Every summer, we like to prepare a list of stories and books we want to read during the long, warm evenings sitting quietly with a cold glass of lemonade (Marie) or cucumber mint vodka (Elisabeth), lol. With the official start of the season just around the bend for us here in the Northern Hemisphere, we…
A Culture Conundrum
‘You should write stories from your own culture.’ This was a message sent to me by someone on Wattpad, presumably taking umbrage at some of my AU ideas and hybrid use of elements. To that person, I have to say: You’ve no idea what my cultural background is. You’ve never met me, And if you…
Is it spring yet?
This is the view outside my window… Just checking in to say “hi”. How is everybody doing? I’m finding it hard to get my mojo going for writing these last weeks. February is a month that’s so rough to get through weather-wise and motivation-wise. Seeing the sky and the ground the same milky white colour…
How to Smash Writer’s Block with a Toothbrush
Elisabeth: Marie and I have this running joke. Whenever one of us is stuck on a story, the other will say to go brush their teeth. I blame Marie for starting it. She couldn’t figure out how to get through a scene for several days then said the perfect solution came to her while she…
Romance, Sex, or Smut?
I’m sometimes asked… no, scratch that… I’m sometimes pleaded with why it takes so long before a main couple engage in intimacy in one of my stories. I have yet to write a story without sexual content. I think the closest I’ve gotten was in A Brush With Fate where the lovemaking was “tame” compared…
A New Year of Writing
It feels awkward wishing people ‘Happy New Year’ this year, doesn’t it? The awfulness that was 2020 did not vanish at the 12th stroke of midnight, January 1st. So instead, I wish everyone renewed hope and continued perseverance. When things get rough we at least have our fantasy worlds of adventure and romance to escape…
Fighting! How It All Began With K-dramas
안녕! We thought it’d be fun to do another joint blog. This one’s about what led us into fanfiction writing. Turns out we both share a K-drama beginning. Elisabeth: It was my daughter who first got me into them. “Hey Mom, wanna watch this cool K-drama with me?” K-drama? I knew of K-pop but K-drama? …
You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover (but readers will)
What’s the first thing people note when they look at a book? The title? Sure. Maybe it’s the author’s name if they’re perusing bestsellers at a bookstore. But when scrolling randomly through book lists on sites like Amazon, Goodreads, Wattpad, etc. –be honest– it’s the book cover image/design that catches your eye first, isn’t it?…
I planted a tree and rescued a fairy!
(I felt like blogging something different this time.) About two weeks ago, I had to have the wild cherry tree that I’d planted over 20 years before cut down. It had gotten overrun by black knot fungus to the point the branches were breaking off all over it (I blame it being 2020). I’ll miss…
What I Wish I’d Known When I Started Writing Fanfiction
I’ve been waxing nostalgic these past days as I wrap up my 5th book and get ready to start my 6th. It’s made me wonder, if I could go back in time to when I started, is there anything in particular I would tell myself about becoming a fanfiction writer? A few things come to…
Can Guys Enjoy Fantasy-Romance Stories Too?
A reader told me a few months ago that when it was her turn to choose a date night activity with her husband, she chose to cuddle together and read my fanfic Silk Blade with him. Wow, I remember thinking. She let me know he was really keen to find out how the story ended…
The Death of the Long Read: Is the Writing on the Mobile Phone Wall?
(⚠ Rant alert!) The reviewer’s comment on the initial chapters of my story left me shaking my head: Keep doing what you’re doing in terms of world building and magic because that’s definitely awesome… but make your chapters shorter with smaller, more easily readable sentences otherwise it’s too straining and slow-paced. *sigh*
The Write Sounds
Marie and I decided to do a joint blog on what kind of music or sounds we like to listen to while we write. Elisabeth: Hans Christian Andersen once wrote, “Where words fail, music speaks.” (The Little Mermaid and The Steadfast Tin Soldier are two of my favourite fairy tales of his.) Truth be told,…
Fading Blossoms: When a Fandom Wanes
It is that most glorious of seasons right now when the maple trees outside my window are in the midst of changing colours. I watch the winds of autumn play with the red, gold, and orange leaves which, more and more, with every passing day, let go of the branches they’ve clung to so the…
Don’t Burp: Adventures in Audiobook Recording
One of a multitude of projects I took on this summer was creating an audiobook. {This in addition to editing two whole works, writing an ongoing original and fanfic version of a new urban fantasy, building this website… Oh, and getting started on a new 3310 fanfic too. Phew.} What possessed me to create an…
