Sally Port is coming, dear reader. Part of our gearing up process is making sure that the folks behind the magazine are familiar with all the steps of production in the magazine. For myself, that means learning more about page design software. It’s something I need to know, but how do I do that?Often, the
Continue readingAuthor Archive: Patrick Kidder
Mother’s Day
Well, dear reader, this Sunday is Mother’s Day. It’s one of those ‘holidays’ that was well-intentioned but has a bit of a problem.On one level, Mother’s Day should be one of the most inclusive holidays around. Everyone has a mother… On another level, there are some folks who really don’t like their mothers. Then, there
Continue readingHorsepower or fail flower? Format for victory April 2024
Yes, formatting matters… It’s no secret: here at FMP we like to talk about writing. And fiction writing (particularly fantasy fiction) is one of our favorite kinds of writing. Something that’s more of a secret (though it shouldn’t be) is that how we present our fiction matters. Sure, sometimes it’s fun to come up with
Continue readingChange is coming. Change is here!
There’s a lot going on. And there’s more yet to come. Last week at Word Mean Stuff, I announced I’m putting a hold on posting stories. (Not quitting, just putting them on hold) I’m doing that here too. And there are reasons for that. The FMP website and blog have changed hosts as part of
Continue readingStyles and headers March 2024
I talked about styles and headers years ago. They’re still relevant. They’re still valuable. And, a lot of people still seem to struggle with them. The truth is, if you want your writing to be readable (and to save yourself some headaches) you should be using both. So, let’s take a look at styles and
Continue readingArgent
Once again, dear reader, we’re diving into the world of fiction. This week I’m sharing one of my stories. I’m also working on an opportunity for others to share their stories (which, if I haven’t told you about already, I’ll be telling you about in the near future). Enjoy the story. Write your stories. And,
Continue readingLong vs. short
Long, long ago (before Covid hit the world stage and half the world became ‘covidiots’ (you’re choice which half…)) a writing professor told me, “there’s nothing you can learn writing a novel that you can’t learn better writing a short story.” I actually disagree with him. There are things we can learn from short stories,
Continue readingThe telling of tales
It’s January, dear reader. And today I’m fulfilling a promise to return stories to the blog. In some ways, I would have liked to start with something longer. But the stories on my mind right now are in a location relatively new to my blogs (the one story I’ve shared desperately needs rewriting…). So, let’s
Continue readingThis year at FMP
Welcome to 2024 dear reader, it’s going to be an interesting year. Every year has its challenges and brings new things. This year we’re making some big changes here at FMP. If you’re reading this, you’re accessing the first one already, a new FMP website with a new host! The site’s been in process for
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