The fact that the book industry is changing has never been driven home quite as clearly as it was in the last few days. The first epiphany was when I read a post by my publisher, Lorina Stephens of Five Rivers Publishing. She wrote about how Indigo (the 500-pound gorilla in Canada for book sales) is now pushing the small and indie presses around (post found here). Essentially, the book chain has made the decision to supplement their waning book sales by selling giftware. Fair enough. If it helps them survive, all the power to them. But, and here is where the bullying comes in, they are also basically pushing the small presses out. Lorina says it better than me by far, so I […]
Read moreCategory: Irreverent Muse
Don’t Overlook the Little Things – Notes on Revision
The revision process has been a series of aha moments for me. The latest one has to do with how two of my characters come together and form a bond. The book I’m revising is, of course, “Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero” and the bond I’m talking about is that of a superhero and his sidekick, or, in this case, a boy and his dog. Let me set the stage: Mik has just been given a puppy by his parents. Except, the puppy doesn’t want to do anything except mope around the house. Mik and his mother discuss how the puppy has just been weaned and is homesick. It might help if Mik and the dog spend some quality time together. […]
Read moreAdventures in La La Land
I usually have a laser-like focus for my blogging, podcasting and writing. Note, I said “usually”. Lately, I’ve been feeling pretty scattered. I think it has something to do with work and the number of other projects I’ve got on the go. To make matters worse, when I’m doing something besides my actual writing and revising projects I feel guilty and cannot even enjoy periods of relaxation. So, I decided to step back for a couple days and try to clear my head. The problem is, I stepped too far back and totally forgot to do my regular post. I also owe a couple people guest posts and there is the whole book revision thing too. But, I do think […]
Read moreTrying to Rush the Story
I don’t know about you, but there is a point in my stories where I am solidly down the road and want to see the end. It is at that point that I must be most careful otherwise I rush through scenes that should get a lot more attention. That fact became extremely obvious in my current edits. The first part of the book has very few places where I need to add detail or rewrite a scene. The second part of the book needs quite a bit more attention. I think my biggest sin has been thinking a problem can be resolved in a single effort. I should know better. Any problem I’ve ever faced has rarely been fixed […]
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