There are things that we always hope for but don’t really expect to happen in our careers. One of mine was to be nominated (and hopefully win) the Prix Aurora. In case you don’t know what a Prix Aurora is, it is a national speculative fiction award in Canada. This is the 30th year for the Auroras and, this year, they have included a new category specifically for YA fiction. Mik Murdoch has been shortlisted in the YA fiction category for this award. I’m not sure if words can truly express how I feel about this honour. This is one of those things that is a BIG DEAL that I never really expected to experience. I use the word “thrilled” […]
Read moreTag: irreverent muse
Coming Clean
For the past several months I have been struggling as a writer. There, I’ve said it. I always TRY to stay positive and play through the pain (so to speak), but I’ve finally had to admit to myself that I’ve been less effective lately than I would like. There is a very good reason for this. In March, the company I worked for was purchased. We had been hearing rumours about the purchase for months and it was something that, on paper at least, looked like a good thing for all of us. The reality was slightly less than many of us hoped. I went from being a full-time permanent employee to a full-time term employee with an end date […]
Read moreI Have a New Short Story Coming Out on Every Photo Tells
By the title, you can probably guess that there will be some pimping going on in this post. You would be right, but that isn’t the sole purpose of the post. The good folks at Every Photo Tells have a very interesting premise for their short story podcast. Every month they post a new photo on the site as inspiration for all us writers. Authors are encouraged to write a story (between 1,000 and 5,000 words) based on the picture and send it in. If the story is accepted, they do an edit and podcast it. I’ve been meaning to do this for some time but always managed to miss the deadline. This past month I finally wrote a story and sent […]
Read moreCross Promotion
The Internet is a wonderful tool if you know how to leverage it. It provides each of us with the opportunity to reach most of the world’s population. That is kind of a staggering thought. I could have BILLIONS of people reading my blog, hearing about my books and interacting with me on a daily basis. If I were to have billions (or even millions) of people following me, I’m pretty confident I could make writing and blogging my full-time job. Heck, I would probably have to hire staff to keep on top of everything. That is the potential audience. The reality is MUCH different. I don’t know about you, but my audience is currently in the thousands. It starts […]
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