J.M. Cooke

I completed my first full (yet terrible) book-length story in middle school. Since I enjoyed writing it so much, I considered becoming a published author one day. Naturally, this required a publication method. I had first learned about traditional publishing in elementary school, and at…

Since it’s February, I thought I’d talk a little about romance. Specifically, I want to talk about tropes relating to romantic love that, when done well, can elevate a story and make it far more memorable. Some are wholesome and cute. Others are funny, and…

“Just write” is one of my least favorite pieces of writing advice because it’s often dismissive and unhelpful. Yes, it’s necessary to put words on the page to be a writer, but to actually improve in the craft, you need to know how to practice…

As a reminder, cognitive distortions are negative and irrational thought patterns (Rnic et al., 2016; Shickel et al., 2020) that authors can take advantage of in their stories. Like everything else, cognitive distortions need to be used carefully and intelligently, and doing so requires understanding…

Coalescent is dedicated to my beloved cat, Holly. She was born on March 28th, 2007 and sadly passed away on May 14th, 2025 at 18 years old. She was my beloved kitten, and since she was born in my family’s garage, I knew her for…