The Official Blog of A. E. Costello

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…

What Is Fanfiction, anyway?

“But what is fanfiction?” My hairstylist questioned me this last week while I sat in her chair with her hair iron steaming my hair straight. Myself, my mother, my hairstylist’s daughter and the hairstylist were talking about Twilight and Fifty Shades of Gray and discussing my book. As most people should know by now, Fifty…

On Writing: Words

A. E. here, and today’s “On Writing” advice post is about Words. You know, what you write down if you want to be a writer. And as a writer, you need to write a lot of words. However writers are individuals, and we don’t all write the same way nor do we all write at…

A. E. Reads: THE DEEP [Book Review]

THE DEEP is a 2019 novella written by Rivers Solomon and inspired by the song of the same name by clipping., which you can listen to on YouTube for free here. While searching for books written by black authors with black main characters, I came across THE DEEP. Once I saw the cover, I knew…

Read A Lot, Write a Lot

A. E. here. I ask you, why do you have to read to write well? The answer is quick and easy: Reading teaches you how to write. That’s the most simple clear cut way of putting it. If you don’t have time to read, then you don’t have time to write. You know who said…

On Stories: “End”

A. E. here. Today is one of my “On Writing” posts, where I talk about certain subjects and topics that deal with writing and the writing life. Today, I want to talk about the ending of stories, or rather, the fact that stories NEED to end. Let’s pretend you’re on book twenty-five of a series….