I am learning never to expect things to go the way I plan. I was going to have my blog post up yesterday, but lo and behold, my hot water tank died yesterday, flooding my basement. That meant my attentions were redirected to replacing said tank and drying out basement. I’m sure you have all had your best laid plans fail because of events out of your control. In my case, it has forced me to be a little less rigid in how I I respond to these interesting little roadblocks. I’ve got to be willing to let schedules be more transient (at least, those that can be) so I can keep things moving. How do you deal with adversity? […]
Read moreCategory: Irreverent Muse
Book Review: Dreadnaught (The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, #1)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars I fell in love with Jack Campbell’s series “The Lost Fleet” and knew at its conclusion that I would have to read “The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier” when it was published. I did not get the chance to start reading the series until just last week. As was the case with his previous series, once I started reading the book, I couldn’t put it down. This series is SciFi Military reading candy at it best. So, what do I like about it? Well, besides interesting characters, an intriguing mystery and well-written battles (not to mention lots of well thought out studies on human responses to emprisonment) it doesn’t have much to recommend it. […]
Read moreBuilding an Author’s Signing Survival Kit
Let me begin by saying, the ideas that follow are not wholly mine. The idea of the survival kit was given to me during the “When Words Collide” writing conference. A very nice lady came to talk to me while I was manning the publisher booth and she asked me if I had a kit put together. She then explained what it was and some of the items that should go in it. Essentially, the purpose of the Signing Survival Kit (SSK) is to give the author the best flexibility and preparedness for any possible signing opportunity. It should be constructed in such a way that it is easy to carry, and store. So, here is the SSK in its […]
Read moreLearning as I Go
There are days when I think I know quite a lot about being published and the trials and tribulations of being a writer. That is largely because I’ve had the grand opportunity to meet and speak with many fantastic authors and edits and publishers and…well you get the idea. Then there are days when I know I’m a fledgling writer N00b who has a lot to learn. For example, I naively thought I could walk into my local public library, introduce myself to one of the librarians and offer to come in to do readings/signings/whatevers and they would fall over themselves (okay, be receptive at least) to book me in. The reality is, I am now 0/4 on my attempts. […]
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