Any artist will tell you the key to progressing in an artistic endeavor is consistency. This applies to painting, drawing, digital art, music composition, and yes, writing. Maybe especially writing. It should come as a surprise to exactly no one that, six months ago, I was deep in a writer's block. It wasn't that I [...]
I wrote this essay months ago, just as schools across the country opened amidst a worldwide pandemic, and we faced yet another unique set of challenges in the Storms household. Months later, as 2021 comes to a close and the schools plan to open on schedule starting January 3, 2022 regardless of the dramatic spike [...]
Every year I do a quick summary of what I've accomplished in my writing career and sometimes what I've accomplished in life. It's a great way to look back and realize I actually *have* been pretty busy, no, I *wasn't* slacking as much as I thought, and hey, this year wasn't so bad. (Covid and [...]
Gather 'round, my internet friends and strangers, and let me tell you a harrowing tale of woodland survival and my recent near-death experience. It didn't start out harrowing. Oh, no. It started out an adventure full of hope and promise. I should probably start at the beginning. A week ago, my husband went fishing with [...]
One of the biggest rules in writing stories of any length is "write what you know." That's not to say I know anything about real magic, or talismans, or chaos. I mean, really, who really does? (Well, okay, I know a *little* about chaos these days.) But the bigger takeaway from this rule is generally [...]
I'm tempted to leave the title and the title alone here in this blog post. Because damn. I am tired. I worked eighteen hours this week on a job that's supposed to take up no more than ten. And I did it all from home while supervising-slash-teaching my 11-year-old her ratios and fractions and comparisons [...]
Yesterday, we received a mystery package in the mail. We receive a lot of packages* in the mail, as husband is an avid collector of many things fishing-related. I assumed the small manila envelope contained a fly-fishing tin of some sort as I'd seen several of those make their way through his hands recently. So [...]
The day after husband's oncologist used the 'C' word at his 4-year followup visit, he got up early to go fishing. (A common occurrence in our household, as our friends and acquaintances know well.) When he returned, he was mumbling to himself as he walked in the front door, but I caught only the tail [...]
How do you begin a blog post you never wanted to write? How do you type the very words you never wanted to see again? How do you convince yourself that there's anything good or fair or right in the world when you get the news that your loved one has cancer? Again. I don't [...]
Have you ever wanted something in your life so badly you can't imagine living without it? Have you ever felt that if someone just gave you a chance, you know you could succeed? This? Is every writer I know. Every dreamer. We write, we create. We make real our fantasy worlds, give breath to characters [...]
L. Ryan Storms 