March 29, 2025
Book cover in red and fawn - The Book - Writer's Resource, Nonfiction Review by Tandy Malinak
Published by Tandy Malinak at March 29, 2025
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The Book – A Review

The Book is as much a history lesson as it is a mystery, revealing more than it conceals, but always leaving a few things a little unraveled for our imagination to wonder at — for so history itself, with its often patchy evidence, demands.
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May 6, 2024
various time watches and pieces
Published by Tandy Malinak at May 6, 2024
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Worldbuilding 101: Timelines, Your Story Sequence

Timelines establish the sequence or schedule for your story. Everything on them should be necessary to the world or your characters and must be done in a precise order so that what you create makes sense in story form.
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March 13, 2024
Image of eclipse with text: My favorite things, the total solar eclipse, Tandy Malinak
Published by Tandy Malinak at March 13, 2024
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My Favorite Things — The Total Solar Eclipse

Totality lasted less than 3 minutes — such a tiny fraction of time compared to the years I’d spent waiting, hoping, planning, and preparing. It overwhelmed the mind yet further rooted a desire for more at the same time.
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February 18, 2024
notebook, pencil camera laid on top of a map
Published by Tandy Malinak at February 18, 2024
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Worldbuilding 101: Story Setting, Your World’s Framework

Story setting is more than just the physical stuff. It’s the mood and culture, period and genre, and many other things all wrapped into one. But it’s worth parsing out to find the sticky spots in your work that need more detail.
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November 18, 2023
various construction site images
Published by Tandy Malinak at November 18, 2023
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Worldbuilding 101: Characters, the Story Foundation

Your characters are worldbuilding tools, but they are also much more. Use them correctly, interact with them as if they were real, and you’ll see them come to life. They’ll become the guides to your storyline and world.
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October 26, 2023
Published by Tandy Malinak at October 26, 2023
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Worldbuilding 101: Maps, the Story Blueprint

Your map represents the world your characters live in. It might be as small as a doll’s house or as large as a multi-galaxy supercluster, and that’s fine…provided you can keep it all straight.
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July 27, 2023
black cats
Published by Tandy Malinak at July 27, 2023
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My Favorite Things: Black Cats

I’ve had and loved cats of many colors and patterns, but my heart will always be most captive to the black ones: To their elegance, to their uniqueness within the seeming uniformity, and to the memories they evoke of those now gone. In history and in the now, black cats reign supreme.
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February 9, 2023
books in cabinet
Published by Tandy Malinak at February 9, 2023
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Cozy Mystery Review: The Cat Who Series

Every title begins with the phrase ‘The Cat Who’. The reason is simple: A cat is the crime-solver. His devoted human is merely the tool he uses to impart justice, and the actions described in the title are a clue...
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