Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • The New Conflict Thesaurus Silver Edition Writing Guide Is Here!

    I always get a bit excited when a book I’m waiting for releases, so it’s great to finally share that The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggle (Vol. 2) is now out! This SILVER EDITION is the twin of the GOLD EDITION, and continues to explore all the ways we…

  • The Magic of Sensory Memory

    This month I’ve been thinking about – and experiencing – the magic of sensory memory. Have you ever smelled something that reminds you strongly of a particular memory, or perhaps a person? Maybe tasted something that reminds you vividly of an experience? I referenced the idea of this in my book Must Love Death, and…

  • The Agony of “Almost There”

    You know when you stand at the base of something big, and you’re prepared to start, like a trek up your own personal mountain? You probably prepared to get there. You’ve done the work ahead of time. And there’s a certain energy and excitement about getting started. Nothing like the agony of when you were…

  • Some March Magic

    One of the ways that I find joy – and the magic I wanted to share this month – is in my craft room. Specifically with my miniatures. I love miniatures – looking at them, making them, dreaming of new ones, talking too much about them… I work in two scales. 1/12 scale, which means…

  • February Magic!

    You know what I find magical? Birthdays! My Dad always gave me grief as a kid for decorating for my birthday about a month ahead, LOL! While I don’t enjoy them quite as much now (they’re just not as fun as a grown up!) we have an almost double-birthday this month. My eldest daughter and…

  • Finding Joy Amidst the January Blahs

    We are well into the January and mid-winter “Blechs,” aren’t we? I think this year it’s feeling worse for probably almost all of us since there’s the usual dull-dark of January – especially if, like me, you live in the northern hemisphere with snow and generally less light and sun at this time of year…

  • We made it!

    Well, we made it to December and the end of the year – hooray!! While this year may not have had quite the sticker-shock that 2020 did, I still wouldn’t give it a five star rating, would you? Sometimes that’s made it a lot harder to see the magic and humor in our world. But…

  • Can you believe it’s November??

    Can you believe that it’s almost December? I’m having a hard time even considering it – or that the year is almost over. Yet on Monday we received a big reminder of what time of year it is: SNOW! And yes, it deserves excess capitals because there was a lot of it! For the most…

  • Welcome Shade for Love!

    Yay! I can finally say that the Shades are really out in the world. 🙂 l This series has been a long time coming. If you’ve been around for awhile, you might have seen promises of the Shades of Beckwell back in 2019. Which was when it would have appeared, except… life. I am definitely…

  • The Shades Series is finally here!

    With the release of the novella Trolled today, the Shades of Beckwell series has finally entered the world! Just why is this so exciting you ask? Well (and here, picturing me looking a bit sheepish), the series was supposed to come out back in 2019. But, for lots of reasons (among them burnout) that didn’t…

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