After years of trial and error, I’ve adopted a pretty structured routine in creating a book. No AI here! I’m old school. As Master Jedi Paul once said on the road not taken to Damascus, “AI is the path to the dark side. You must hate what you write. Hate leads to suffering. Suffering leads to endurance, and endurance creates good characters, and good characters—that has made all the difference.” So yes, I’m in favor of a bit of suffering in the writing process. Early in my ca

"The reports of my demise were greatly exaggerated" As a proud member of the Gen-X generation, malls hold a special place in my heart. During the 1970s, the "mall" business model exploded and these monstrous collections of stores transitioned shopping from downtowns to wide open spaces. Want that new Van Halen album? A Hawaian shirt and white blazer like Miami VIce? Turqouise Converse? The malls had it all, including a dating buffet of fellow teens from other schools. By the

I love learning. Running out of grant money in college ended five of my favorite years on this planet. After all, my habit would be to sign up for an overload, drop a couple at the deadline, but still sit in if they were interesting (just no homework). Consequently, because of the Army/government grants, I went WAY over the number of college credits needed for graduation. So as an author, I still have the same passion for learning. Picking a new genre is not good for my brand

Sales are a fragile thing. In hindsight, my 2025 book tour was my most successful year to date (yay!), but it felt anything but successful at times. It was a grind. The most emotionally taxing part of it was the unpredictability. With almost 50 events in 2025, I needed for each of them to “hit” financially in order to justify taking my hobby to a profession, so there was plenty of self-imposed pressure for them to be successful. Since getting “serious” in 2021, I’ve kept reco

Since the days of telling ghost stories around the camp fire, storytellers have reveled in producing goosebumps, and 2005 Maple River graduate Amanda (Schubbe) Ruzsa has turned that love of being frightened into a diverse career in the horror genre. After being a life-long fan of horror stories, Ruzsa had jumped feet-first into being a horror author with 19 titles that range from poetry and anthologies to short stories and novels. Why horror? Ruzsa explains her love of the ge

The Alchemist’s Tomb Dedication: Dedicated to the cellar monster that lived at my childhood farm in South Dakota. You were persistent,...

An interview with Canvas Rebel where I toot my own horn (I guess) FInd the original article at: https://canvasrebel.com/meet-jason-lee-wi...

The biggest factor in being able to chase my dream of being a full-time writer was my secret weapon, my wife Julie. Now that I’m in year...

I saw it coming in the classroom a generation ago. Five minutes before class would start, students would huddle up around the ONE KID...

David Lynch: One of my storytelling influences. WIth the recent passing of David Lynch, it game me a moment to ponder how this strange...

Okay, when I say “sold out” I’m not talking about Metallica cutting their hair and wearing eyeliner. Compromising your principles and...

By third grade, I knew I was different from my classmates. They all seemed quite content playing in the real world of the Tri-Valley...

Fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo slouhd nto be na etidor. I learned long, long ago that I can powerread through almost any poorly written...

"It's a Good Day to Be an Adult and an Eagle." (Note: Note: In this installment, it’s “me” who left the nest last June. The classes of 2024 and 2025 will be my final groups of students I had the privilege to teach, and with young women like Olivia Anderson and Ellie Braaten, it was hard to step away from the classroom.  Turns out these current Eagles are already making the “real” world of adults a bit better place.  When asked if anything eventful had happened in her life ove

I'd like to introduce you to the 3rd book in the Alchemist Chronicles: THE ALCHEMIST'S RING. When I began working on the Nicollet book, I...

The unicorn. The odd duck. The weirdo. Showing up to any author event, these are the thoughts that go through my mind. At an Arts & Craft...

"Local Author Releases Debut Novel" By Jason Willis Step One:  Listen to your big sister about dating her coworker. Step Two: When your new girlfriend offers you a chance to read the manuscript, say yes. Step Three: Upon reading the manuscript, make a digital copy of the story. Caution: Do not let her see you do this. Step Four: During awkward small talk, ask her hypothetical questions about a possible dedication page and pertinent biographical information that could be used

For most people, summer provides an opportunity to head out into the great outdoors. For authors, it’s the CANOPY TENT season. Compared...

For my grandparents.     AUTHOR’S NOTE            I never knew my grandparents. All four were gone before I was old enough to investigate...

Collecting stones at Mille Lacs Three thousand miles later, I returned home. Spending a week traveling by car, the scope of the migration really began to hit home. By comparison, Moses and the Hebrews only traveled 500ish miles for the Exodus, so a trek across the continent of North America was quite impressive. Yet the location of the Seventh Stopping Place is a bit...controversial. You see, there isn't orthodoxy in its location. According to the text of the prophecy, the lo