Welcome!!

The Writer's Toolkit is my personal collection of writing-related tools, resources, and references.  The things that have helped me in my quest to become a better writer.

As I find more resources, I'll be adding to these lists.  So, check back often!  Or, if you have an addition you'd like to see included here, please let me know.

To access, simply scroll down to the section you are most interested in and select a link. 

Enjoy!

My Bookshelf...

When it comes to writing, here are a few books I can't live without.

• Bird By Bird- Anne Lamott

• The Elements of Style- Strunk & White

• On Writing- Stephen King

• Writing Tools : 50 Essential Strategies For Every Writer - Roy Peter Clark

And, here are some excellent articles I've come across.

• What Ails the Short Story- Stephen King

Booksellers

• Amazon.com

• Barnes and Noble

• Borders Books

• Borderlands Books (San Francisco)

• Powell's Books

Societies, etc.

• Australian Horror Writers Association

• Northwest Science Fiction Society

• Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc.

Convensions and Gatherings

• Norwescon - Seattle SeaTac Washington

• Potlatch - Seattle

• Radcon - Pasco Washington

• Rainforest Writers Village - An annual writers retreat

• Rustycon - Seattle SeaTac Washington

Contests and Current Opportunities

• Writers and Illustrators of the Future

• Wheatland Press Polyphony 7 Submissions Open

Where do I find out what is going on??

• Red Rocket Station

• SF Chick

• SF Scope

• SF Signal

• SF Site

• SciFi Weekly

• SciFi Wire

Magazines & eZines

• Abyss & Apex

• Analog - Science Fiction and Fact

• Andromendia Spaceways Inflight Magazine

• Apex Book Company

• Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine

• Aurealis Austrailian Fantasy and Science Fiction

• Beneath Ceaseless Skies

• Blood, Blade, and Thruster Magazine

• ChiZine

• Clarkesworld Magazine

• Coyote Wild

• Electric Velocipede

• Fantasy Magazine

• Flytrap - Tropism Press

• Glimmer Train 

• GUD Magazine

• Helix - A Speculative Fiction Quarterly

• Hub Magazine

• Intergalactic Medicine Show

• The Internet Review of Science Fiction

• Jim Baen's Universe

• Clarkesworld Magazine

• Locus Magazine Online

• Lone Star Stories

• Midnight Echo

• Murky Depths

• Necrotic Tissue

• Realms Of Fantasy - Closing Down April 2009

• Spacesuits and Sixguns Magazine

• SpaceWesterns.com

• Strange Horizons

• Talebones

• Wired Magazine

Podcasts

• Escape Pod

• PseudoPod

Publishers

• BAEN Books

• DAW Books

• Fairwood Press

• Golden Gryphon Press

• Ideomancer Speculative Fiction

• Meisha Merlin Publishing

• Night Shade Books

• Orbit Books

• Prime Books

• PS Publishing - UK

• Say...Have You Heard This One?

• Small Beer Press

• Subterranean Press

• Tachyon Publications

• TOR-Forge Books

• Wheatland Press

• Wyrm Publishing

Useful Sites

• Ralan.com - on-line resource that tracks short fiction markets

• SFWA

• Wordsmith.org

Blogs I Recommend

• A Place for Strangers and Beggars - James Van Pelt

• The Day Job - The Fix - James Van Pelt

• Lakeshore - Jay Lake

• Wyrdsmiths - Multiple Contributors

The Process of Writing

On writing process, writer's block, and finding balance...

• Superpowers, psychotic persistence, and success in writing - Jay Lake : 2/4/2009

• Trailer Boy on the Process, Agonies, and Pleasure of Writing Multiple Books in a Series - Ken Scholes : 3/14/2008

• Cultivating Creativity (Blog Category) - Illustrating Stories - Liz Ness & Jackie Wood

• Giving Life to Memory - Illustrating Stories - Liz Ness : 1/25/2008

On the first sentence...

• The Anatomy of A First Sentence - Paul Jessup : 10/05/2007

On word usage...

• Inconsequential question... (to use a word or not) - C.S. Inman : 3/16/2008

On world/universe building...

• Creating Mood or Atmosphere - Jim Van Pelt : 3/13/2008

• Writing About Landscapes - Jim Van Pelt : 3/13/2008

• World-Building Bugs 1 - Martha Wells : 01/17/2008

On characters...

• Whatever Your Doing... (writing "other") - Elizabeth Bear : 1/12/2009

On names...

• Meanwhile: What's In A Name? Elementary, Dr. Sacker - Shashi Tharoor

On dialogue...

• Working on Green, thinking about dialogue (real world vs. written dialogue) - Jay Lake : 3/13/2008

On rewriting...

• The gentle art of rewriting - Jay Lake : 1/30/2008

• Rewriting coherently is a skill - Blake Hutchins : 1/29/2008

The Business of Writing

On the business/financial side of writing...

• more math : how royalties work - Jennifer Jackson : 2/27/2008

• The Money Post - Jim C. Hines : 2/13/2008

• Getting a Freelance Career Started - Catherine Shaffer : 2/13/2008

• Unasked-For Advice to New Writers About Money - John Scalzi : 2/11/2008

On agents...

• Debbie's Guide to Agent Blogs - Debbie Mumford : 5/15/2008

• agents and learning curves - Jennifer Jackson : 2/29/2008 - concerning representation for multi-genre writers

• Everything you've ever wanted to ask - Agent Manners : 9/10/2007

On Contracts...

• to market, to market - Jennifer Jackson : 2/20/2008

• Advances - What Are They Really Made Of - Jennifer Jackson : 2/13/2008

• The first book contract - a parrallax view - Jay Lake : 1/23/2008

• Forward thinking on book offers - an agents view - Jennifer Jackson : 1/23/2008

On Submitting...

• "Manuscript Preparation - Introduction" - Vonda N. McIntyre (SFWA Publication)

• What not to do when you get a rejection - the swivet : 3/4/2008

• "The Query Letter" - Jay Lake : 1/16/2008

On synopses...

• Synopses Still Suck (Pitching Part 3) - Kelly McCullough : 2/2/2007

• Synopses Suck (Pitching Part 2) - Kelly McCullough : 1/30/2007

• Pitching - Kelly McCullough : 1/29/2007

On rejections...

• How Many Rejections Have You Had? - Jay Lake : 1/24/2009

• Hard to Say Goodbye - Rachelle Gardner : 5/13/2008

• Ahh, Rejection - Jim Van Pelt : 3/17/2008

• Rejections - Jay Lake : 3/15/2008

On publishing...

• Judging Book Covers - Irene Gallo : 3/25/2008

• How long is a short story anyway(Story Lengths) - Jay Lake : 2/21/2008

• Waiting For It : Rachel Donadio - Sunday Book Review : 2/2/2008

• Measuring Book Sales - Jay Lake : 9/25/2007

On community and friendship...

• The price of success - Jay Lake : 3/16/2008

Other Items Of Note

• Blurp Etiquette - Justine Larbalestier : 2/8/2008