Jeff's Blog

Articles

Finding Your Own Voice

Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 @ 4:30 pm | 4Comments

Finding Your Own Voice

(or, in other words, how to make characters feel real)

by Jeff Wheeler

Inside almost every work of fiction, usually on the copyright page, is a disclaimer that publishers put there to deflect potential lawsuits stating that the incidents and people represented in the work are... Read More

Sci-Fi Roots

Tuesday, November 15th, 2016 @ 3:27 pm | 6Comments

I’m a fantasy author, but it may surprise you to know that my first love was science fiction. I still have strong memories and impressions dating back to 1977 when I was sitting in the Century movie theaters on Winchester Blvd in San Jose (which, incidentally, kind of looked like... Read More

What love really looks like

Friday, February 12th, 2016 @ 8:19 pm | 2Comments

I don't know if I've been a hopeless romantic for most of my life, but probably so. All my books have some romance in them--well, except maybe the Wishing Lantern! One of the reasons I've loved The Empire Strikes Back so much is it coined the phrase "scruffy-looking nerf herder" which... Read More

The lonely profession

Friday, January 22nd, 2016 @ 5:51 pm | 2Comments

I’ve had some conversations and interactions lately that have reminded me that writing is truly “the lonely profession.” Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining nor is this posting a rant. Being an introvert, I’m very comfortable in my own head (where all my characters live!) and I don’t... Read More

Developing Characters – the Johari Window

Thursday, January 15th, 2015 @ 6:49 pm | 1Comments

One of the most satisfying things about reading a book is watching how characters progress. Robert Olen Butler talked about human yearning being the key driver of any story, that writing "is the art form of human yearning." In the Muirwood Trilogy, Lia hungered to learn how to read, then... Read More

There is power in persistence

Wednesday, December 10th, 2014 @ 4:57 pm | 7Comments

There is power in persistence. I have told this story several times to friends and family, but I do not think I have shared it on my blog. There was a time, three years ago, when I was tempted to quit writing. In 2011, I had self-published the Muirwood Trilogy... Read More

The Imagination Muscle

Tuesday, July 8th, 2014 @ 4:41 pm | 3Comments

From time to time, I get requests for writing advice. I’m not very big on offering writing advice because I truly believe there isn’t one way to do this business and what works for me won’t necessarily work for someone else. Instead, I’m a believer that practicing writing is the... Read More

Destruction and Creation

Monday, April 14th, 2014 @ 4:02 pm | 1Comments

I read a great essay many years ago by a famous US Air Force pilot named John Boyd. He had a very interesting life and there’s a great book about him called Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of WarRead More

The Bookstore Apocalypse

Saturday, March 15th, 2014 @ 5:12 pm | 1Comments

My wife loves to watch Morning Joe and told me about a recent interview that the author James Patterson gave. He’s donating $1 million dollars to help independent bookstores survive. http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/how-to-preserve-the-cherished-local-bookstore-184294467957 I have no... Read More

Here There Be Dragons

Saturday, November 16th, 2013 @ 6:26 pm | 1Comments

There is something essential about having a map in a fantasy world. Back during medieval times, a cartographer would reach the edge of their known world and often draw a picture of a dragon or a sea serpent with the label, “Here There Be Dragons”—meaning, in short, “I have no... Read More