by DCMcElroy | Jun 21, 2022 | General
If you’ve ever written science fiction or fantasy, you know the dilemma: How much unfamiliar language is too much? Is there downside to using too little? Call it a Goldilocks Zone question. This is a recurring issue in writing The Darbas Cycle, not because I...
by DCMcElroy | Jun 20, 2022 | General
I’ve gotten some beautifully written reviews over the years, but I wanted to share this one from Bill Thompson, the retired Book Editor at The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier, where we were colleagues. I wanted Bill as a reader from the beginning, because...
by DCMcElroy | Jun 2, 2022 | General
Writing about a fantasy world requires structured imagination, but here’s the fun part: As the writer, you get to control all the variables. Living on Earth in the 21st century requires imagination, too, but we control only a few of the inputs. I grew up in an...
by DCMcElroy | May 24, 2022 | Darbas, General
“But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as long as the attack is upon effects only, no change is possible. The true system, the real system, is...
by DCMcElroy | May 7, 2022 | General
This was posted in a private group and isn’t my photo, but you’re looking at what used to be a landmark on the edge of Blowing Rock, NC. All the nostalgic tropes apply, but Holley’s was usually a simple proposition: Million-dollar views from an...
by DCMcElroy | May 5, 2022 | General
Every now and again we feel time click forward like a big, slow, historical clock. The increments are seldom predictable, but after that Big Click, the new present closes the door on old illusions. Did you feel it this week, too? The Supreme Court news felt like a...
