Last week, I wrote a post about some of the problems the publishing industry, specifically traditional publishing, currently faced. There was nothing new. The Twitter mob screaming howls of outrage, the traditional houses having to figure out how to deal with the fact their corporate offices are mainly populated by whites, etc. There is a... Continue Reading →
Characters We Love to Loathe
No, not the Evil Warlord or his minions. I’m thinking of the characters that spice up a story by being Good but Irritating, or even Morally Neutral but Obnoxious. The ones that keep you reading not just because you want to see your hero save the world, but because you want to see Obnoxious meet... Continue Reading →
Character Analysis
Or Finding Your Own Bad Habits Now, the first thing I’m going to say about creating characters is Do Not Outsmart Yourself With A Clever Naming Scheme! I speak from experience. Ignore the weird names in the following examples. Or take them as a lesson on what not to do. What I’m examining right now... Continue Reading →
File? What File?
Oh, this file? Well, where did that come from? And this beloved franchise, adored by millions if lately come a bit low? I was, uh, just cleaning it up. Giving it a bit of polish! Yeah, that’s it. Making it look pretty! Well, by pretty, I mean blowing dust into the corners and giving it... 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 →
Characters can break
The last couple of weeks have been busy. There's been the writing and the editing. There's been family stuff and medical stuff. There has also been a lot of reading, most of which was for entertainment. There has also been recharging of the creative part of my mind -- as well as beating my muse... Continue Reading →
Tortoise Kebab
Here I am still busy with Xeno’s last chapter (which has become at least one more chapter) in trying to finish TOM – the ‘quick’ light fantasy/satire novel about a semi-feral young cat who finds himself transformed into being a curmudgeonly magician’s apprentice – that I was doing as light relief from more complex books.... Continue Reading →
Conversations
I've had a series of conversations I took part in this week, and in them answered, or helped answer, some questions that I thought applicable enough to repeat them here. Writing, publishing, cover art... it's all fodder for the blog, right? I had a conversation the other day with a friend who is also a... Continue Reading →
Don’t break canon without good reason
You know, it really isn't fair that I have to follow Dave on this blog. That's especially true after his post yesterday. If you haven't read the post yet, go do so now. He gives the best response to the Hatchette "response" to Amazon's letter that I've seen. That's all I'm going to say on... Continue Reading →
A Fresh Look
Cedar here: I've been a bit overwhelmed with school and work this week, so when Sanford emailed me this I was delighted. Not just because it meant less work for me, but because we talk all the time, and this has been a topic recently. When is it time to stop? Do you leave them... Continue Reading →