The mercenary finished his coffee in a single gulp, It must have been piping hot, too. Boy, he was tough.

That's usuаllу hоw thеу start, thе young оnеs. Meaningless waffle.

Did Lovelace's forces find you? Did Jabor break in?" He spoke slowly through clenched teeth. "I went to get a newspaper" This is getting better and better! I shook my head regretfully. "You should leave such a dangerous assignment to people better qualified: next time ask an old granny, or a toddler-

As an author, you need to keep talking to your audience to remind yourself what they like and what they don't like. You spend most of your life locked in a room, and you need to be social occasionally.

Burned and squashed to death in a silver vat of soup. There must be worst ways to go. But not many.

Most traditional ghost stories feature rather hapless protagonists, who have nasty things happen to them.

Getting that first draft out is a horribly hard grind, but that (perversely) is where the joy of it lies.