Tag: Aeryn Rudel

More Writing Rules and How I Relate – The Heinlein Five

Last month, I did a series of posts about Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing and how I use them. Leonard’s rules are pretty specific and granular and have a lot to do with the actual nuts and bolts of the prose. On the… Continue Reading “More Writing Rules and How I Relate – The Heinlein Five”

Rules for Good Writing? How I Relate – Part Two

Last week, I published an article about the first five of Elmore Leonard’s famous Ten Rules for Good Writing and how strictly I adhere to them. You can check out that post here, but as a quick reminder, what I did was rate each… Continue Reading “Rules for Good Writing? How I Relate – Part Two”

Rules for Good Writing? How I Relate – Part One

One of my literary influences is Elmore Leonard. If you’re unfamiliar, Leonard is the author of some of the greatest crime fiction novels (among other things) that you have almost certainly heard of because a lot of them have been made into movies. A… Continue Reading “Rules for Good Writing? How I Relate – Part One”

Talkin’ Tags: How I Write Dialogue

If you’ve spent any time among writers, be it on social media or even in private writing groups, you will have almost certainly heard the “rule” that you should only use said when it comes to dialogue tags. I think this originated in Elmore… Continue Reading “Talkin’ Tags: How I Write Dialogue”

Vampires and Demons and Hitmen, Oh My!

If you’re even passingly familiar with my work, then you’ll have noticed I tend to gravitate to certain tropes. Like, a lot. The top three are: vampires, demons, and hitmen/organized crime. There are definitely others (and I’ll likely do a part two for this… Continue Reading “Vampires and Demons and Hitmen, Oh My!”

Swings & Misses V: The Rejection Streak Returns

Anecdotally, a good acceptance rate for short fiction tends to be around ten percent. With regards to rejections, that percentage generally works out to a statistically consistent ten to fifteen noes in a row . . . except when it doesn’t, and you go… Continue Reading “Swings & Misses V: The Rejection Streak Returns”

800 Rejections or That Which Does Not Accept You Makes You Stronger

On April 4th of this year, I hit another big submission milestone. I received my 800th rejections since I started recording them on Duotrope back in 2012. As usual, I have some dirty details on my nice round number of noes and not for… Continue Reading “800 Rejections or That Which Does Not Accept You Makes You Stronger”

The Millennial Milestone – 1,000 Submissions!

A few days ago, I hit a submission milestone more than a decade in the making. Yep, 1,000 submissions. It’s been a long road with a lot of ups and downs, but it feels pretty damn good to see that giant round number on… Continue Reading “The Millennial Milestone – 1,000 Submissions!”

Three Things I Learned from 100 Story Sales

Since I started submitting work seriously in 2013, I’ve sold* 120 short stories. Like the piles of rejections I’ve racked up in that same time, my much smaller heap of acceptances has taught me some valuable lessons about writing and the often arcane process… Continue Reading “Three Things I Learned from 100 Story Sales”

2025: A Short Fiction Rearview Review

Welp, 2025 is over, and it’s time to tally up my submissions, rejections, and acceptances and see how I did. I set some lofty goals for the year, and though I fell short of more than one of them, it wasn’t a terrible year,… Continue Reading “2025: A Short Fiction Rearview Review”