Wow, it’s been forever since I last blogged. One of my real-life friends even asked me why I never post anything anymore. That’s when you know you’ve fallen off the face of the Earth. In truth, there’s not a whole lot to report. I’m plugging away on Heart of the Nebula, making good progress. My… Continue reading Back from unannounced hiatus
Tag: Frustrations
Excited for a new old project
So a couple of weeks ago, I picked up the manuscript for a novel I’d written years ago, looking to see how much work it would take to salvage it. It’s a direct sequel to Bringing Stella Home, with James McCoy (again) as the main character. Long-time readers of this blog may remember it as… Continue reading Excited for a new old project
Thoughts on writers, reviewers, and stalkers
The bookish side of the English-speaking internet exploded last week with an article in The Guardian about an author who stalked a Goodreads reviewer, showing up unannounced on the reviewer’s doorstep and going to great lengths to expose the reviewer’s identity. The crazy part–or crazier, I guess, since the whole thing is batshit crazy–is that… Continue reading Thoughts on writers, reviewers, and stalkers
Why writing retreats and seminars make me uneasy
Writing retreats and seminars make me uneasy. I’ve never attended one, mostly because the prices tend to run so high, and that’s part of what makes me so uneasy about them. Yes, writing is a business, and yes, the author deserves to be paid, but paid for what exactly? For telling stories, or for telling… Continue reading Why writing retreats and seminars make me uneasy
Thoughts on declining sales and the summer slump
According to conventional bookselling wisdom, summer is the slowest time out of the year for book sales. But is that really the case? I’ve heard David Gaughran and Ed Robertson argue that that’s just a myth perpetuated by New York publishers who are completely out of touch with their readers. Sales don’t fluctuate with the… Continue reading Thoughts on declining sales and the summer slump
The week from hell
That might be a bit of an overstatement, but this week is shaping up to be really crazy stressful. First, I’ve got to move out of my current apartment. I think I’ve got a place lined up to move to, when makes things a lot less stressful than they were last week, but I’ve still… Continue reading The week from hell
Yay for short stories!
So for the past three weeks while waiting for my first readers to get back to me with their comments on Strangers in Flight, I’ve been working on short stories. It’s a great way to stay busy and productive between projects, and feels really gratifying too because it only takes a week or two to… Continue reading Yay for short stories!
Why I quit Facebook
Last month, I made the decision to quit Facebook. Permanently. As in, the Facebook account that I created eight years ago as a college freshman no longer exists, unless Facebook continues to store and monetize data from its ex-users long after they’ve quit the service. Which wouldn’t surprise me at all, since Facebook is in… Continue reading Why I quit Facebook
Towards a new measure of writing productivity
When I decided back in college that I wanted to write professionally, I made a point of tracking my daily word counts. I even made graphs with the data, showing both my daily count and a seven-day rolling total (some of you may remember how I used to post those graphs on this blog). Tracking… Continue reading Towards a new measure of writing productivity
Familiar vs. original vs. WTF?
In writing, you’ve always got to strike a balance between things that the readers find familiar and things that might be original or new to them. Every genre has its own standard set of tropes, plot twists, character archetypes, and other such story elements, and even if the readers can’t explain them all to you,… Continue reading Familiar vs. original vs. WTF?