Adrenaline – Intellect – Adventure

Ley Esses

Author, Speaker, Editor, Podcaster

NF – Lying to your audience

I wonder about lying. Not like in people-to-people interactions, but just in storytelling. Lying as a storyteller is odd, because unlike every other kind, you want your audience to know that you’re lying. I find it’s a useful tool in engaging the reader in what’s going on. If you get your reader to argue with…

December 12, 2017
Monsters – Chapter 2

Lauren hated the tiny snakes – about four inches long, kinda like worms, but green and scaly – in the long grasses. For that reason alone they had chosen the hillside, but now that plan was moot. She didn’t want to go, but Gabriel was right: the trees weren’t protecting them. Before completely abandoning Judas,…

December 9, 2017
NF – Art and entertainment

I wonder about art. Some I don’t get, but that’s not really the point of work, I’ve decided. Art isn’t actually about making you think, it’s about how it makes you feel. Entertainment holds the consumer’s hand through the adventure, but art is for anyone to simply interpret, and it means whatever the consumer decides…

December 6, 2017
Monsters, Chapter 1

To the residents within the walled city: Monsters are real. I’m not talking the hypothetical monsters under the bed, or merely unkind people. I’m talking tangible, bona fide monsters. Like a scientist labeled a bunch of legs, each with a terrifying animal trait, then handed the collection to a toddler. The resulting creatures are running…

December 2, 2017
NF – All about the timing

I wonder about time. I don’t mean in the ethereal, cerebral kind of way. But literally how long it takes to do things. I’m that person who times different routes and averages them to find the best bet for efficiency over reliability, and the person who sets a timer just so I don’t have to…

November 28, 2017
NF – Underdog vs. Overlooked

I wonder about the underdogs. Why do we like them? Don’t we want to root for the winner? What is it about the underdogs that’s so appealing? There’s a glory in the struggle. We may not notice it when we’re our own main character, but seeing it in others – we want to support them,…

November 21, 2017
Linked – S1E15

If you haven’t started this story from the beginning, this one won’t make too much sense. I suggest you start here before continuing. “You did what?” Jack had heard Victor’s words clearly, but still had trouble understanding them. “I couldn’t stay. Symon –” “Has Sarah now as his personal guinea pig!” Jack finished, livid. “You abandoned…

November 18, 2017
NF – Quirks

I wonder about quirks. Not choices that the character makes so the author can add realism to the character (I have a friend who – every time there’s a loud noise – looks to the door and not the source of the sound) or flaws (I’m not sure why every YA heroine has to be…

November 15, 2017
Linked – S1E14

If you haven’t started this story from the beginning, this one won’t make too much sense. I suggest you start here before continuing. Victor? Anytime you want to take over…. Sarah looked from Marcus’s smug grin to the guns and back. I don’t think we’re fighting out of this one. He was right. For the…

November 10, 2017
NF – The world for one soul

I think about writing often – probably more than I should. But stories fascinate me. Why do we create? Why do we want to be entertained? What is it about imagining someone else going through trials – rooting for them, weeping with them, fearing for them – that enraptures every person I know? Some part…

November 7, 2017