Friday Fun-Day Writing Prompt: Santa Claus

Happy Friday Fun-Day, Scrap Binners! And happy last night of Hannukah to those who celebrate! It’s hard to believe that we’re already reaching the end of those eight holy nights, six days away from Yule and the Winter Solstice, and ten days away from Christmas. With all these winter holidays going on, I think it’s time for another holiday-themed Friday Fun-Day writing prompt. This time, I want to…

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Don't Be Afraid to Write Rubbish

My mom got me the best holiday gift possible: a Cameo video from Mark Sheppard, the genius actor behind Supernatural’s Crowley. It’s easy to say that this gift did not just make my day or my week; it made my year. (For those who don’t know, I am a big Supernatural fan, especially Crowley.) Yet it’s not just the fact that it was Mark Sheppard who appeared in the video that made it so special. It…

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Friday Fun-Day Writing Prompt: Eternal Night

Happy Friday, beloved readers! It’s hard to believe that it’s a little over two weeks until Christmas, huh? And Hanukkah already started last night! (Those are just the holidays that I know of.) It’s hard to believe how quickly the holidays are going by. Hopefully, even with all the hustle and bustle of this time of year, you are taking some time for your writing. Whether you already are or you…

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The Writer's Scrap Bin Patreon

Happy holidays, everyone! It has been quite a while since I’ve written on here. I’ve been busy with my beta reading, editing, and related work. I even started ghost writing over the summer. (Not an easy job, I’ll tell you that much–but I’ll save that for another post.) I plan on revitalizing this blog, though, starting with some big news: I have started a Patreon page for The Writer’s Scrap Bin…

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Writing Tools for the Modern Age: Vocal

Writing Tools for the Modern Age: Vocal @vocal_creators #amwriting

Hello, readers. It’s been quite a busy year and a half for me–longer, actually. I’ve mostly been sticking to my freelance work–editing, beta reading, and writing–this whole time. I’ve also started using another tool to get my writing out there: Vocal. I want to share with you what I’ve discovered so far. Vocal home page On Vocal, you can share your writing and get paid for it. After you create…

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Sick Cruising Anthology

Check out my new #story, "Beautiful Dreamer," one of many amazing stories in the Sick Cruising anthology from @nphZone

What a year 2020 has been, readers and writers. A pandemic, exposure of violent racism, riots, political unrest…I can’t even begin to describe how surreal it’s felt. Of course, we all have a baseline understanding to work with, so I don’t really need to. Suffice to say, I’d love for whoever wished to live in an apocalyptic novel to get us out of it already. I suppose that it hasn’t been all bad…

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Book Review: Rational Tax Reform by Jim Hartung

#BookReview Rational Tax Reform by Jim Hartung

Happy Thursday, readers and writers. It’s sure been a shaky few months, to say the least, huh? All I can say is that whoever wished to be a part of their own apocalyptic fiction story line better find that genie and unwish this fast. Until then, we’ll have to make do with our reality and carry on as normally as we can. For my American readers, that includes filing taxes in time for the new July…

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Book Reviews: Odell's Fall by Norman Bacal

#BookReview Odell's Fall by Norman Bacal

Well, everyone, it’s Thursday. That means that tomorrow’s Friday, and we’re almost to the end of another week. It’s already shaping up to be an interesting year, so why don’t we leave the world behind for a while and dive into some fictional problems instead? Today I want to bring you a review for a very interesting–albeit high-tension–novel called Odell’s Fall by Norman Bacal.

Odell Moore is…

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Cover Reveal: The Hollow Gods by A.J. Vrana

Cover Reveal: The Hollow Gods by @AJVrana

Happy Hump Day, readers and writers! I hope the new year is treating all of you well, political strife aside. To my Australian readers, please stay safe with these bushfires still rampaging, and here’s hoping that those will die down soon. To those outside of Australia, if you would like to help out even on a small scale, here is an article from USA Today detailing how you can provide aid to…

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Friday Fun-Day Writing Prompt: Winter Horror Story

A special #writingprompt for Friday the 13th

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone! Such an odd month to have it in, December. It’s not as though we associate winter with Friday the 13th–that’s more of a fall and Halloween thing. Of course, writers live for unusual combinations. What better way to exercise our writing muscles than to try and make two seemingly mismatched elements fit together cohesively?

That brings us to today’s writing…

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Book Reviews: Love is Orange by F.C. Neil

#BookReviews Love is Orange: Stoking the Fire by F.C. Neil

Happy December, readers and writers! It is now officially time for you to put up your Christmas—or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Yule, Saturnalia, or other winter holiday—decorations without drawing ire and nasty looks from your neighbors. It’s also just thirty-one days until we enter 2020. What better way to celebrate the first day of the last month of the year than with a new book review? Today, I…

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Darkness Wired Anthology

My story "Patient Zero" has been published in the Darkness Wired Anthology from @nphZone!

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! It’s certainly been a busy few weeks. I went on vacation the week of Halloween, and almost as soon as I got back, I fell really ill. I was definitely not a happy camper for a while there. Fortunately, I’m doing much better. Busy as always, but not feeling like I’m going to die from being sick anymore. I also have some pretty exciting news: one of my…

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Book Review/Announcement: Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher

#BookReviews Hidden from Our Eyes by James Fisher

Happy Friday, readers and writers! Today I want to bring you a combination book announcement and review for a unique kind of speculative fiction—or at least one that we don’t hear about very often anymore. Instead of taking its readers far into a dystopian future or back into a foreign-yet-somehow-familiar past, this book journeys into an almost unrecognizable alternate timeline, one in which…

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The Curious Case of Depression and Anxiety

#MentalHealth issues aren't a weakness, but they're still hard to talk about when they take over. But if we all think we shouldn't, no one will. I know this conundrum well, and speaking up for myself is never an easy thing for me to do.

Happy October, readers and writers. It has been quite a long time since I’ve updated this blog. I’ve been neck-deep in work, including a few projects that I can’t talk about just yet. Rest assured, though, that they are fairly interesting, two of them being editing jobs for other writers and one involving some writing of my own. (I know, it’s hard to believe!) Unfortunately, it’s not just been…

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The Writer's Scrap Bin Brief Updates

The Writer’s Scrap Bin Brief Updates

Long time, no read, loyal followers! Things have certainly picked up over here, even more so than usual. That’s why I wanted to take today to provide you with three key updates about what’s been happening over here in The Bin.

First of all, I’m happy to say that my beta reading gig on Fiverrhas been booming since the website made beta reading its own category under “Writing & Translation”. In…

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Rotten Reviews from Rotten Writers

Writers tear into each other far too often. If you've experienced it, you're not alone. Even famous writers have dealt with toxic feedback from peers--and dished it out themselves.

Happy Saturday, everyone! As my regular readers know, I started this blog as a way to provide support to fellow writers, whether they are aspiring or well established, and build a community of writers that build each other up, not tear each other down. I’ve just never understood why we can’t help each other. We all have our own genres, styles, and niches, so why can’t we share readers and rejoice…

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Book Reviews: The Professor by T.A. Evans

#BookReviews The Professor by T.A. Evans

WARNING: The Professor by T.A. Evans contains some scenes of a sexual nature and accidental overdose. If you are under 18 years of age, do not continue reading. If you are triggered by accidental overdose or sex scenes or otherwise wish to avoid such depictions, proceed with caution.

Happy Manic Monday, everyone! It’s been quite a busy few weeks for me, but what else is new? (Organized chaos…

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