Tesseracts Fifteen is an experiment of sorts. It marks the first time in the Tesseracts anthology series that all the stories are Young Adult. As an experiment I think it works quite well. The thing about Young Adult stories is, they really cross all genres and, they can be enjoyed by adults as well as younger people. That being the case, this anthology is a fine representation of all things Young Adult There are stories that are clearly science fiction, horror, fantasy, adventure and some that embody tropes from multiple genres. The main characters could easily be the kids you see on the bus every day. The individual contributions to the anthology were a fine mix of stories that made […]
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Ramping Up for a New Year
2011 was pretty busy and I got a lot done. I left a lot of things needing finishing touches though too. Since 2012 is looking to be even busier, I need to take these last few days of 2011 to finish them off and plan for the coming year. So what does the new year hold? Well: My first book will be out in print: “Mik Murdoch, Boy Superhero”. I should also have at least one self-published book out too; I will also be working with Jeff Hite on the Mad Scientist Anthology (which begins to accept submissions January 1, 2012, by-the-way); I will continue to produce “Get Published” podcast; I will be trying to find a home for “GalaxyBillies; […]
Read moreWriting Shouldn’t Be a Solitary Activity
In my early writing days I believed that it was just me and the words. No one else would ever be involved. I was totally alone. I’ve since learned that writing doesn’t need to be so solitary. True, there are times when it should be just you and the keyboard, but there are many times when you should be around and involve other people. For example. critiquing and feedback of your work – I have heard the opinion that a writer must write a million words before they have anything worth sending out. I would argue that a million words without any outside scrutiny doesn’t improve one’s writing much at all. The feedback around what works and what needs work […]
Read moreGet Published Episode 64 – Know Your Audience
I was very fortunate to attend a brand new Convention for Writers and Readers here in Calgary called “When Words Collide” a week ago. The convention had several VIP guests including Robert J Sawyer who agreed to be interviewed for the show. He talks about marketing and promotion in the Tips and Typos section. I also interviewed Marc Johnson. Marc is a self-published fantasy author living in the Bay area. He talks about why he made the decision to self-publish and how he is treating his writing as a business. Both authors talk about something I found very interesting and that is, knowing your market and targeting it. It’s an important lesson for me and one I think all authors […]
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