Nicholas C. Rossis

dream-protecting author

Well-crafted “Mary Sue”/”Gary Stu” Characters

Mar 19, 2020 | Writing

There is a fascinating discussion right now on Quora on Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters. People argue in favor and against the possibility of writing a well-crafted, enjoyable character like that. For anyone not familiar with the Mary Sue term (Gary Stu or Lary Stu are...

OIRWA 2020 Workshops

Mar 11, 2020 | Writing

Last week, I started attending Creating Great Villians, a great workshop on villains from OIRWA – the Outreach International Romance Writers Chapter of RWA®. Taught by Rayne Hall, one of my favorite writing aids authors, it is just one of four courses OIRWA...

How I Became a Freelance Writer

Mar 7, 2020 | Writing

When I wrote in my last post about the Evolution of Blogging, I didn’t expect so many people to contact me asking how I managed to become a more-or-less full-time freelance writer. A friend even said that she knows a lot of disabled writers who would be great at...

Subject-Verb Agreement

Feb 19, 2020 | Writing

The other day, I was writing an answer in Quora. “Vitamins are essential for our body,” I wanted to say. Then, I paused. Should it be, “…for our bodies”? My previous post explored the difference between historic and historical. Today’s post continues on the same...

Historic or Historical?

Feb 17, 2020 | Writing

You may remember the explanation of the origins of the idiom, a baker’s dozen by the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC). Today, they dissect a historic event… or should that be, a historical event? Here’s a Q&A to help you determine which one is correct,...

Will Computer-generated Writing Replace the Human Kind?

Jan 27, 2020 | Writing

You may recall my sci-fi romance, A Heaven For Toasters, taking place some 100 years in the future. Leo, the android protagonist, exhibits some distinctly human characteristics—including the ability to feel human emotions. But could Leo become a writer or poet? The...

How Hard is it to Say Yes?

Jan 19, 2020 | Fun Historical Facts, Writing

I recently came across a great thread in Quora about the usage of the word “yes” in various languages. The thread is concerned with explaining why romance languages use almost the same word for “yes” (si [Spanish, Italian] and sim [Portuguese])...

Pearseus: Tyranny Prologue

Dec 21, 2019 | Free Stuff, Writing

I mentioned the other day how the first book in my fantasy science fiction series, Pearseus, is now titled Pearseus: Tyranny. I am sharing today the opening chapter. While some authors advise against using a prologue, my advice is different: if you feel the book needs...

12 Ways to Develop your Child’s Writing Skills

Dec 5, 2019 | Writing

Getting people — and kids, in particular — to read and write has long been a passion of mine. You may remember my post, Reading Tricks for Kids of Any Age, originally written for Mom’s Favorite Reads. Well, I recently came across an article by Abigail Elijah of...