Writing is a solitary gig and it’s easy to be discouraged sometimes. Maybe you’ve had a hard day at work or you’re sick or perhaps you just feel down. Those can be the times that make or break a writer. I’ve been there. It’s when you are at your lowest that you need to step back and look at why you write. Find something about your writing that makes you happy. This can be a tough thing to do. It’s really easy to see the things that aren’t working or haven’t worked. Avoid thinking about them. They won’t help you. Remember, you’re trying to build yourself up. Why is this important? In a nutshell, sticking to your writing and continuing […]
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The Writing Life and Conventions
I attended ConVersion 24 last weekend and I’m pleased to say it was well-worth the $60 I spent to go. What was ConVersion 24 you might ask? Simply put, it is a Science Fiction and Fantasy convention held in Calgary every fall. This year it was August, next year it will be in October (as I understand it). The guests were Timothy Zahn, KA Bedford and Jennie Breeden. My friend Simon Rose was also there speaking at the Children’s Programming section and participating in a panel on Marketing oneself. I sat in on both Timothy Zahn’s and KA Bedford’s panels and I was very happy to hear about their daily writing routines. They both said that they write between 1 […]
Read morePlaying for Keeps Shoutout
August seems to be a busy month for taking runs on Amazon. As you know, Tee Morris and Phillipa Ballantine both took their turn on August 8th in their “Double Trouble” promotion. For Tee and Pip, it was the charge of the sequels and showing how new media can help established authors. Coming up on August 25th it’s Mur Lafferty’s turn. Mur has been called by some, the Queen of Podcasting and she certainly has the credentials to back that up. She podcast her book “Playing for Keeps” to a massive audience; 10’s of thousands of subscribed listeners (myself included). She will be trying to climb the Amazon charts and prove that her listening audience will follow her to the […]
Read moreIs a Break Really as Good as a Rest?
Well, I just came back from a 4-day weekend where I worked every day to lay a laminate floor for my mom. I decided before I left that I wouldn’t be taking my laptop (and hence my primary writing tool) along. It was time to take a break from the writing. The problem is, when I got home yesterday, the thoughts of writing came flooding back along with something else… guilt. I felt guilty that I hadn’t been writing for 4 days. All the story and plot and character ideas attacked my mind en masse and as a result, I didn’t get much sleep. That means that while I took a break, I’m not feeling terribly rested. Quite the opposite, […]
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