Sometimes, you sort of muddle along and figure out a character as you go.  And sometimes, it hits you like a clue-by-four, right between the eyes. Working on [project name redacted] yesterday, I took a Tumblr break to rest my brain, and was handed the visual* that will be [character name redacted] for my entire damned life. […]
Along with the occasional joys and successes, into every writer’s life come the things that fall through. The options that are never picked up, the movie deals that stall, the projects that are cancelled, and endless variations through every year and day of your career. They’re not even things that you can maybe use later:
Today’s Lesson is Zen. Read More »
“How do I do this? How do YOU do this? How does it get done, this book-writing, storytelling thing? I keep starting and stopping, getting distracted, getting bored, getting broken…. what’s the secret?” The following paragraph has long resided in the sidebar of my Livejournal blog. Some days (weeks, months, years) it’s useful to shake
A Reminder (for you, and for them, and for me) Read More »
Chapter Five was a bear to write, mainly because there’s a massive amount of delicate worldbuilding here — too much, and it comes across as a Tract, too little, and the reader becomes lost in unfamiliar territory. A lot of movement, covering ground (heh) and launching the story into a new direction. And this is
Day Twelve of the Year-End Project Read More »
Day Ten Basically, yesterday I was rewriting chapter 4 from the ground up, and swearing because I really need to do some on-site research for certain details (Google Maps only goes so far, even now), and I stupidly set one particular important element somewhere I haven’t spent a lot of time and…argh. When I’m writing
Days Ten and Eleven of the Year-End Project… Read More »
Internet continues to be unreliable, making for late posts. And we shall not speak of Cablevision’s decision to cancel my service call without checking to see if I still needed it….  Cranky writer is cranky, as there’s stuff I need to research/sites I need to check… A long post, catching us up. Day Six: Realized
Days six through nine of the Year-End Project Read More »
Merry Christmas, to all who observe/celebrate/enjoy! Combining two days of work into one post, for brevity’s sake. Chapter Two was more of a bear than I had expected – this is where I am wading into unfamiliar waters, both in setting and time, and the characters are a reach for me. Finding something in
Day Four and Day Five of the Year-End Project Read More »
PSA: looking for that last-minute downloadable gift? Something to read on the long trip to Grandma’s house? DRM-free fiction at BookView Cafe! Holiday Sale! (and yes, this is a sideways reminder that my DRAGON VIRUS, FROM WHENCE YOU CAME, and PRACTICAL MEERKAT’S 52 BITS OF USEFUL INFORMATION are available direct from the publisher here…. but
PSA for the holidays & an Update on Day 3 of the Year-End Project Read More »
So while I’m head-down in manuscript and revisions and whatnot, I also appear around the Internet… You can hear me on this week’s Functional Nerds podcast, being very nerdy and somewhat functional…. (with apologies for the occasional muffled sound… my Skype dropped out once or twice). AND! I’m at the Book View Cafe blog as
Working on a proposal today, writing up the sample chapter, and I nail the paragraph that nails the POV character. “This wasn’t a job. I was on leave. Medical leave, officially. “Get your shit together†leave, unofficially. Which probably maybe explained why I was out there, at oh-dark o’clock, sitting on my numb ass watching
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve done ’till it’s done… Read More »