The destruction of the Republic is planned as a side note to the ongoing conflict of the First Order hunting Finn and Rey for the map to Luk

We don't need to be the heroes out to save the world to make a difference in it. There's no dragon to fight in a battle you make up

I've been told for most of my life that I am a strong, confident young woman. This is not true. If I appear strong, it is because I am afraid of looking weak. If I appear confident, it is to live up to the expectation that I am. Most of the time, I am constantly worrying about what I do, say, and think. This is not particularly helpful in a creative field. What's the solution? This post is a creative brainstorm to find my way out of this self-confidence problem. And hopefully

The Last Jedi had a lot of great things going for it, including a wonderfully diverse cast of main characters, a female protagonist, and sev

Hello all! I have a few blog posts in process, but this week I want to talk about something I'm really excited about: One of my favorite self-published authors was picked up just last month for a traditional-publishing contract with HarperTeen! Because blogging is not all about me, but also about supporting artists I admire and recommending books that I think you would all enjoy, I'd like to talk about this incredible and inspiring YA-fantasy author: Intisar Khanani! In 2015,

It is difficult to know when to put off laundry one more day so that you can get that chapter down that's been rattling around inside yo

Quite literally two days before I was scheduled to start revisions, I thought of a new aspect to my main character which would completely ch

Growing up, you are constantly told how special you are, how you can do anything, be anything, and possibly touch the moon if you jump high enough. In high school, you are encouraged to find the thing you like/are good at and pursue it. In college, you develop expertise in that area until you are sure in your young, confident brain, that you now Know Everything. You're ready to go out an conquer the world, like your mom always told you that you could! Then you get to the job

When most people think of a witch, they imagine wicked old witches who eat children and put curses on people. A witch is the shadow across a moon, the evil in a stranger, and the threat of what happens to women if they become too full of their own power. In recent years, witches have started changing into something else. The image of mindless evil from Wizard of Oz has been transformed into a heartbreaking love story in Wicked. The word "witch" in stories no longer even indic

I have recently been involved in feminist critiques of children's and young adult novels, where it is far too easy to point out what is wrong or failing to live up to the standards of today. When you think of a climactic scene in particular, what do you usually picture? The hero saves the heroine from mortal peril (like most every superhero movie pre-Avengers)? The woman dies to strike an emotional blow for the male protagonist? Or even the patriarchy attempting to crush a fe

For the last few weeks, I have not been blogging because I have been busy with several Events, including the Tucson Festival of Books in Tucson, AZ and the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, FL. These were both fantastic events. ICFA was my first academic conference ever and I even presented a paper! However, the panel I want to tell you about happened at the Festival of Books. Quick poll: How often have you gone to a book event with panels and