Author Archives: Pete

Decade

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Pete

Right now my wife is reading this book entitled What Alice Forgot, where the protagonist gets a concussion and forgets the last decade of her life. Everything that seems recent to her is ancient history to her friends and family. … Continue reading →

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The Painted Spider

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Pete

When I got out of school, I rented an apartment with a couple of roommates. Per state law, the landlord repainted the place just before we moved in. And they painted everything. Walls, ceilings, window frames, heater registers, doors… doorknobs. … Continue reading →

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Watch the Deleted Scenes

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Pete

It used to be that a DVD’s additional material—the deleted scenes, the extended scenes—were these Easter Eggs of story canon from which fans could eek ever more detail and geek out on message boards. The Matrix of course was the … Continue reading →

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Struggle and Thrive

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Pete

When Joss Whedon was writing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he received much praise for his witty writing and the characters’ artful banter. Then he wrote the episode Hush, where a plot device robbed the characters of their voices, and deprived … Continue reading →

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Buck a buck

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Pete

Several years ago I gave voice recognition a try. It looked promising and efficient (and a friend raved about it, but I think that’s because he owned stock in one of the companies). So I did some research, bought one … Continue reading →

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Short and Sweet

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Pete

When my first daughter was born, people came out of the woodwork with advice, but my buddy Kevin gave me this little nugget: “You’ll want to tell people about everything your kid does. Don’t. No one cares. If you absolutely … Continue reading →

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An Announcement and a Teaser

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Pete

Today I’m happy to announce that the title of the forthcoming third novel in the Togahan series is A Togahan’s Chance. Due out in mid-2016, ATC continues Dante’s story.

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#showyourwork

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Pete

I just finished reading Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work!, and I recommend it for any creator out there interested in fostering a community around their creations. I’ve followed Mr. Kleon’s blog for a while now, and you can probably see … Continue reading →

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My Big Picture: The Jigsaw Puzzle

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Pete

I often imagine stories like a mural. I have a rough idea of the whole thing. I have images for where the story starts and ends, and a vague notion of the middle. It’s like looking at the picture on … Continue reading →

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Use What You Have: The Lineup

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Pete

At one point, I needed a comparative height chart with all the Togahan races (like something you’d see in an RPG* manual). This would help me visualize scenes and blocking, and insert mannerisms where they were required. I once tried … Continue reading →

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