We have our lairs, and fill them with our hoards. Oh, some people call them by other names. Houses, apartments, mansions . . . but we know what they are. And our hoards are furniture, books (lots and lots of books!) dishes and flatware. Knickknacks; gifts from friends, mementos of vacations. Art, from posters of... Continue Reading →
Appropriate Culture Like It’s Going Out of Style
So today I found myself drawn in to a trainwreck on the book of faces, where a particularly smug specimen was completely failing to understand why Lionel Shriver’s address to the Brisbane Writers Festival was both necessary and important. If, like me, your native culture is flat out inappropriate (it’s not my fault I was... Continue Reading →
The Velveteen Writer
Every month or so I get a pm on facebook, or an email, usually worded something like this: "I hope you'll forgive me for disturbing you, but I have written a book, and I would like your advice on how to go about publishing it." Sometimes it's a spouse or a friend who has written... Continue Reading →
What happens when your muse hijacks you
I'll admit it. I'm drawing a blank on what to write this morning. I think part of it is because I've been deep in editorial mode the last few days. Another part is I made the mistake of reading an article that continues to equate indie publishing with vanity presses and telling those who would listen... Continue Reading →
Slog
I see in today’s paper that Australian research identifies me as a ‘slogger’ - a bloke who would like to work less but needs the money. And there I thought I was just a lazy beggar who would like to fish a bit more often. The interesting part to their whole schpiel – which didn’t... Continue Reading →
Welcome to Schedule C
Or, business advice for the indie writer. Note: this is US-specific, as I don't file taxes anywhere else in the world. Check your local laws for the specifics that apply to you; they may vary wildly. You'll hear a lot "save your receipts" before you start filing indie pub income (or trad pub advances) under... Continue Reading →
Well, Hello
It's Saturday, isn't it? I am in the throes of con prep. Not for myself as an author - today, I go as Mom. I'll be in the shadow of two teens doing their first cosplay, and they are about as excited as you can imagine - practically vibrating. They have been prepping all week,... Continue Reading →
Reviewing Some Award Winners – Part the Second
As promised, I’m reviewing the opening of the winner of a different award this time around. The genre is more or less the same, but beyond that, there’s very little the two works have in common. As I did last week, I’m not giving the name of the work or the author, because I want... Continue Reading →
Simply Remove Everything That Isn’t Story
I've found myself, lately, going over half-completed novels and wondering if I had a stroke while writing them. It's not true, of course. I didn't have a stroke. But I was very ill for about four or five years, the time I refer to as "the wheels came off." Before the endless moves, there were... Continue Reading →
It’s a business
There are times when I feel like I'm the crotchety parent sitting the kids down to tell them the facts of life. No, not those facts of life but the facts of life about business. It seems like almost every week there is a blog post or newspaper article about a bad contract or troubles in... Continue Reading →
Mad Genius Club 