Hi, there! Today's post is special: I'm interviewing fellow fantasy and science fiction author Louise McLaughlin! She has such a unique perspective on publishing and some very cool themes relevant to international affairs in her work. I hope you enjoy her insights as much as I did! Regards, Nicole Q: Hi Louise, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! I know everyone's writing journey is different, so what made you interested in being a fantasy and science fiction author? A: I have...
about 2 hours ago • 3 min read
Hi, there! Let me start by saying I'm not an expert on race or anthropology. I just have my own educated-layperson-level intellectual interests and lived experience as a mixed-race person to go off of, but objectively publishing is very white. Most publishing industry professionals are white, the vast majority of published authors are white, and so it's no coincidence that most fictional characters are also white. (People, after all, often say "write what you know!") (A statistic I'll never...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Hello! At a friend's recommendation, I started reading a sci-fi book called Where it Rains in Color by Denise Crittendon. This author really excels at something that I personally struggle with, which is extremely immersive and vivid world-building. For me, it often takes many drafts to get the atmosphere and setting of a story right - the plot comes to me much more easily, and then the characters, and then the setting. As soon as I started reading Where it Rains in Color, though, I was blown...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi, there! I'm popping in to say a brief hello. I've been extra busy mostly not-writing since my last email/post, because I have been very busy having and taking care of a new baby! This time has reminded me that everything has a season, including writing projects. I registered to attend a writer's conference in October, so the little bit of writing time I've had these past few weeks has been devoted to polishing the third draft of the first 10 pages of my novel, which an editor and several...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello! I finished my second draft of my novel manuscript, and it feels amazing! For Fics & Dip readers who are not writers: most books go through many, many drafts. This is not the first novel manuscript I've ever written, but it is the first I've seriously revised. I learned so much about myself and my editing process along the way, and I'm so proud of how much better the second draft is compared to the first draft. When I mention to people I'm writing a novel, they often immediately asked,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hello! If you're a mom like me, you've probably heard a million variations on the parenting advice: "let them be bored!" I see this sentiment all the time as a reaction to today's over scheduled, high-pressure environment where parents feel they need to fill every bit of their children's lives with sports, social activities, clubs, family obligations, seasonal traditions, etc. It seems especially relevant during summer breaks in the United States, at least, where some feel guilty if they...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello! Some days, I really wish there was a shortcut for learning writing craft. I finished listening to Brandon Sanderson's 2025 lecture series that I mentioned before, and he talks about writing 12 (!) books over about 10 years (!!) before he got his first offer of publication... for a measly $5,000 advance (that was negotiated up to a whopping $10,000). There are few careers that pay worse than writing for the majority of authors, which is one of the reasons why most novelists have day...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi, there! After my post/email last week, someone asked me why I switched to using one of my own photos instead of a stock photo. After many years of blogging about Foreign Service life, I'm used to using either my own photos or a free, unlicensed stock photo depending on the topic. However, all the unlicensed stock photo websites I've used have become increasingly inundated with AI-generated images. As a writer, I oppose generative AI for creative writing. There are many reasons for this,...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hello! You may know that Brandon Sanderson is one of the most prolific and successful fiction authors of all time. Did you also know that he regularly lectures on the craft of speculative fiction writing and the business of publishing, and then kindly makes that content available online for free? I listened to his previous Brigham Young University (BYU) lecture series from 2016 on YouTube and have recently been working through an updated 2025 version of the same lecture series in podcast...
3 months ago • 1 min read
When I was in college, some of my friends and I exchanged handwritten letters. It was a nice way to stay in touch when we scattered to different universities, and I remember how exciting it felt to receive a letter in the mail - completely different than a text or email! There's something similarly special about reading my words on published paper instead of just on a screen. I'll forever be grateful to Exponent II for being the first to publish my adult fiction in this way, and I still keep...
4 months ago • 1 min read