Reshaping Reality

July 6, 2021

My Open Letter to City Designers

I originally wrote this email for the Des Moines City Council. For the past year, I’ve adjusted the verbiage to reflect what I’ve heard in their City Council Meetings with the Public. I also adjust the bullet points and actions I (and others) wish to see them take. Otherwise, most of the letters are verbatim Continue reading

activism, Author, disability, Race, transgender

ableism, access, accessibility, Accessible Cities, disability, disability justice, Disability Pride, Fight Ableism, Homelessness, No More Ableism
October 23, 2016

Antenna of Time

My heart skips a beat, Darkness swells and crashes on the shoals of time – I can’t see, I can’t breathe. Spun into a tornado I hurl my spirit onto the crags, the molten decadence of hope– Don’t look for me in the moonlight, Don’t look for me in the daylight. Our feet balance on Continue reading

Author, Poetry, Writing

fractal art, poetry, PTSD
October 5, 2016

Characterization: The Template

I have a fairly robust character template that I keep regularly updated as I progress through my novels. Character aren’t static, and they do change over time, so I have a section in my template that covers character growth. I try to dig deeply into the psyche of my characters as well as their past Continue reading

Characters, Writing

character building, character design, character profile, character templates, characterization, Characters, writing
September 19, 2016

Death/Rebirth

Death/Rebirth by A. A. Zingler Emotions bubble and froth, the spring spills and spits into a torrent of motion, the light trails cascade and collide, and the black void pushes out a scream– I teeter at the edge of a long drop, the sky blazing blue with a hint of a droplet that graces my Continue reading

Art, Author, Poetry, Writing

death, despair, emotion, growth, healing, hope, poetry, PTSD, rebirth, trauma
September 9, 2016

Withering World

Withering World by A. Zingler, myself. The world is clothed in black robes, the light diffused into a smudge of burnt umber, up into the starlight I look, but the sky is crowded with fog and haze of a world sickened and poisoned. Our future splinters into strands of twisted streams, each sagging with Continue reading

Author, Poetry, Writing

air, conservation, despair, earth, environment, future, hope, land, poetry, water, world
August 28, 2016

Contemplation on Hope

In a volatile world that rips and throbs with oppressive practices, tying us all into tangled amalgamates of despair, we toss a rock into the pool of hope, the ripples pushing outward and molecules — bumping and pulling against one another — destabilizes the roots of harmful systems. Each of us a converging stream Continue reading

Author, Poetry, Writing

hope, humanity, liberation, life, oppression, poetry
July 23, 2016

Review: Who you’re gonna call? Ghostbusters! (2016)

When I first heard of a new Ghostbusters movie, I figured it would be a rehash of the old movie with guy actors, where they wouldn’t really do anything new except update the humor with present day gags. I had no plan to watch it at all until I discovered the twist: four female Continue reading

Author, Reviews

comedy, ghostbusters, movie, movie review, paranormal
June 13, 2016

My Heart is Heavy with Grief and Anger

In Orlando, Florida, a gunman, after seeing two men kissing two days prior, decided to target a gay bar during Latino night with a trans headliner. There were a lot of cisgender LGB folks as well as trans LGB folks in the bar that night. He killed 50 of them and injured 53 others. This Continue reading

Author

LGBT, LGBTQ, mass shooting, orlando, queer, transgender
June 13, 2016

A Primer on Writing Trans Characters

Introduction A question I’m commonly asked is: how does one write a trans character? I also get asked this question in regards to writing gay, lesbian, or bisexual characters, and/or how to write a person of color. There is a lot of overlap in these questions since a person can have a variety of skin Continue reading

Books, Characters, World Building, Writing

character development, Characters, diversity, LGBT, science fiction, transgender, world-building, writing
June 5, 2016

Writing Process: An Update

Update on The Dragios Twins Trilogy Book 1: The Lost Ones A few weeks ago, my editor returned my book to me with some excellent edits and suggestions. She noted areas where I needed more precise and descriptive words, areas where believability was an issue, characters who weren’t as strongly painted as other characters, suggestions Continue reading

Characters, Elivera, Writing

character development, conflict resolution, justice, plot, science fiction, writing
May 18, 2016

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I loved Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s everything I always wanted from Star Wars, where they had complex, nuanced women protagonists and people of color. This diversity made the film’s great acting, dialogue, and story even more engrossing. It also hearkened back to some of the best moments of the original trilogy of IV, Continue reading

Author, Characters, Feminism, movies, Reviews

emotional intelligence, finn, rey, star wars, survival