The Kilted Writer

The Kilted Writer currently has two workshops scheduled in the month of June. First, I will be presenting my "Brains, Brawn, and Bravado" workshop to the Parker Writers Group , on Sunday, June 8 and again to the Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group the following week. The CSFWG presentation is currently for members only, so please see their website for membership details. On a completely different topic, I have recently applied for and received press credentials so I can start covering writing events as a journalist-blogger. My goal is to cover writing groups and events, including interviews of staff, faculty, and attendees, in order to educate the public on what's available to help aspiring writers master their craft. I am still looking for an appropriate livestream platform so I can provide live coverage of major events. I have narrowed down the options and will make a decision soon. I have also created a YouTube channel where I will keep highlights from these ev...

I am currently developing a new workshop! Right now, I have two workshops I am giving at various conferences and writing groups. The first is "Brains, Brawn & Bravado: Mind, Body, and Spirit in Character Development," and the second is "Brains, Brawn & Bravado: Mind, Body, and Spirit in World Building." Both teach writers how to use the mind, body, and spirit symbolism I have been writing about in this blog. My new workshop also falls under the category of "world building," and is tentatively entitled, "Let There be Light: Revealing Your World to Your Audience." Basically, I will show how to pull your reader into the world you create, whether  your story is set in modern-day Chicago or a galaxy far, far away, using techniques of incremental revelation. I was first exposed to the concepts as part Write Brain workshop hosted by Pikes Peak Writers several years ago. I have taken those basics and expanded them into a more...

I came in one evening, several years ago and flipped on the TV right as a movie was starting. As I watched, it became clear that this was on0e of those Harry Potter stories I'd heard so much about (Later, I discovered it was the Sorcerer's Stone). Wasn't that supposed to be Satan worship or something? Because I had nothing better to do, I decided to watch for a while. I figured it would either be too childish or too demonic for my tastes, but I would never know for sure unless I checked it out for myself. Within a few minutes, I was captivated. By the end, I was hooked. Where did all this demonic sh...tuff come from, anyway? I went out the next day and bought the book. I read it. I bought the next book. I read it. And so a fan was created. Sometime between Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince (I think), I was in the library looking to see if there was a book on the symbolism and imagery J.K. Rowling used in the Harry Potter books. I ran across a book ...