The Official Blog of A. E. Costello

[Update] Where is Zippy Mae?

Hi, A. E. here. Today I wanted to update on where I am at with my current project, the Zippy Mae series. I announced this series last year and have been working on it ever since. I’ve restarted my draft twice, and am on the third draft now. After a lot of world-building, I decided…

Fall In Love with Reading….Again

Hi, A. E. Costello here. Welcome to my blog! I know that it seemed like I had completely abandoned it without warning, and well, I’ve returned. I’ve been ill, and had surgery two months ago. Now fully recovered, I’m back to my blog and ready to continue on it. So with no further ado, the…

A. E. Reads [A Song Below Water] Book Review

A Song Below Water is a 2020 YA novel written by Bethany C. Morrow. It features two high school black girls as main characters, Tavia and Effie. You’d think they’d be so-called “normal” but they aren’t. Tavia is a siren, and in this story, sirens have been black women for the past seventy-five years. However…

Nothing About Writing : Easier to be Evil

This is my very first Nothing About Writing post, which is a post where I talk about something that honestly…is basically off-topic. My blog is about writing, writing life, publishing, being an author, things like that. Nothing About Writing is a post that has…nothing to do with writing. Sometimes a thought takes hold in my…

The Genealogy of Zippy Mae

National Novel Writing Month has begun! I’m not participating this year, but I’ve got to say so! In light of National Novel Writing Month, I decided I’d start my first blog of the month on… The Genealogy of Zippy Mae. Zippy Mae is the main character of the Zippy Mae series that I am working…

On Writing: Criticism

Hello, A. E. here. On this blog I’ve talked about how constructive criticism is better than praise. Today’s On Writing post is about criticism as a part of writing life. If you’re a writer, you need to get criticism. First though, what is a critic? A critic doesn’t have to be a bad thing. You’re…