Hello everyone! Sorry this post is a tad late, I was dealing with some apartment issues and remembering why I don't want to live in one anyone. That aside let's focus on something a little more pleasant, like writing, and how much fun it is! Which will lead me back to a topic I've probably covered before...
Writing is both another job and a hobby for most authors. This is no different for myself in that I use it as something I'm pursuing to complete a goal, and also as a relaxation tool. When I'm stressed, angry, upset, bored, or whatever I'm feeling that day I can write and help keep myself focused and then relax. It's a great way to just let go of whatever was going on and get involved in a different world for a while.
Though I say writing is a job, I mean that in the sense of the amount of time it accompanies with the rest of my day/week. I don't consider myself a 'professional author', which and I could be wrong, I see a someone who dedicates all of their time doing nothing else but writing their stories. There are times when I consider whether or not I'd like doing that, but then I can't help but wonder what happens if/when I'd get burned out on it. Not to mention the fact it's incredibly difficult to start making money, and I have bills to pay.
To me, unless something amazing happens, writing will have to be the part-time job that I do as a hobby because it's super fun, and not the full-time job that I do every single day as a living. I'm not saddened by this, because if writing became my full-time job what would I do to relax and calm down after a hard day at work? The point where writing is considered more work than fun is when an author needs to take a step back and reflect on what's going on. If all a person does is work it's just going to build up stress, and having too much of that can cause a lot of problems that doctor's are still discovering today. So please, just have fun with your writing; you'll appreciate it more.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today, I hope that made sense. After this morning my head is a little scrambled. I'll be back on Friday though with my normal review, so please stop by and check it out then. For now though, I hope you all have a good rest of your week!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
08/13/2012 Magnificent Monday!
Hello everyone and welcome to the start of a new week! I was all excited and ready to start my new schedule and the first thing that happens was I set my alarm for the wrong time, so rather than being woken up all rested, I woke up (thankfully early) realized my error, and had to rush through my morning routine. Luckily I have gotten things pretty much under control, but still, not a fun event.
As I mentioned before I have started re-reading 'The Light Rises' again in order to check for continuity errors. This has become a rather eye-opening experience and I hope in the end it will make all of my readers satisfied. Let's just say there is a lot more pink pen scribbled on those pages than I thought there would be. It's not because of continuity issues, well not all of it, there have been some and those are marked with a different kind of pink scribble.
I had initially thought I was going to feel sad or irritated coming back to something I had thought was done, but I feel strangely satisfied. I think it's because in the end I know it's going to be better than it was before, and I'm not saying that to sound arrogant of my own abilities, it's just the truth. It's been over a year since I finished and first published that book, and in that time I have worked on honing my skills and through trial and error, have worked to make stories flow as much as possible. This is something that each and every author experiences. It's not like you can take something from an author's earlier works, compare to their newest, and say that they are 100% exactly the same. Sure there is going to be a lot of similarities, but by the time you get to the most recent one, there are going to be subtle things that make the book easier to read, and more enjoyable. This is what I'm looking forward to.
I appreciate everyone stopping by for my post this morning. Hopefully this is going to be the start of a great week! I'll be back on Wednesday, hopefully after having the correct time set and everything. Until then have a good start to your week!
As I mentioned before I have started re-reading 'The Light Rises' again in order to check for continuity errors. This has become a rather eye-opening experience and I hope in the end it will make all of my readers satisfied. Let's just say there is a lot more pink pen scribbled on those pages than I thought there would be. It's not because of continuity issues, well not all of it, there have been some and those are marked with a different kind of pink scribble.
I had initially thought I was going to feel sad or irritated coming back to something I had thought was done, but I feel strangely satisfied. I think it's because in the end I know it's going to be better than it was before, and I'm not saying that to sound arrogant of my own abilities, it's just the truth. It's been over a year since I finished and first published that book, and in that time I have worked on honing my skills and through trial and error, have worked to make stories flow as much as possible. This is something that each and every author experiences. It's not like you can take something from an author's earlier works, compare to their newest, and say that they are 100% exactly the same. Sure there is going to be a lot of similarities, but by the time you get to the most recent one, there are going to be subtle things that make the book easier to read, and more enjoyable. This is what I'm looking forward to.
I appreciate everyone stopping by for my post this morning. Hopefully this is going to be the start of a great week! I'll be back on Wednesday, hopefully after having the correct time set and everything. Until then have a good start to your week!
Friday, August 10, 2012
08/10/2012 Fantastic Friday!
Happy Friday everyone! I'm glad you have made it back and hopefully your week was full of nice weather and fun. I have started making progress reviewing 'The Light Rises' in the fashion I mentioned on Wednesday, so that is a good sign. For now though let's get to business.
Today I bring you 'Skyships and Airtunnels' by T.J. Dipple. It's about an airship crew taking part in an annual race through the skies. Darrel, the captain, is determined to win his ship and his crew their prize after five years of constant trying, and to do that he has to take his new skyship through the most dangerous airtunnel on the route.
Now normally things regarding really any sort of racing I usually just let my eyes glaze over and wait for it to be over (any Fast & Furious movies haven't gotten love from me) however, this idea intrigued me enough to take a look. I like how everything to characters did felt like part of normal life for them, so the descriptions didn't feel shoehorned in, and the exposition was more like a captain and his crew having normal conversation, not like Darrel was telling everyone on the ship how to make it work for the very first time. Everyone felt very competent, which was rather nice since the path Darrel instructed his crew to take was incredibly dangerous and if they didn't know what they were doing they'd all die. Especially since one mistake in the airtunnels means almost certain death for any crew, what with the lakes of magma running through them.
'Skyships and Airtunnels' is available on Smashwords for $1.20, so please go and take a look for yourselves. This is a story about trust at its very core, and the idea of everyone working as a unit toward a common goal, not for one person, but for everyone on board is great. You get the sense of how sports teams work as a unit, and how everyone needs to play their part in order to achieve absolute victory.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I'll be back on Monday, thankfully starting my normal schedule so hopefully I'll be more awake then. For now I hope everyone has a good weekend, and gets to see some pretty shooting stars from the meteor shower that's happening. Have fun and have a great weekend!
Today I bring you 'Skyships and Airtunnels' by T.J. Dipple. It's about an airship crew taking part in an annual race through the skies. Darrel, the captain, is determined to win his ship and his crew their prize after five years of constant trying, and to do that he has to take his new skyship through the most dangerous airtunnel on the route.Now normally things regarding really any sort of racing I usually just let my eyes glaze over and wait for it to be over (any Fast & Furious movies haven't gotten love from me) however, this idea intrigued me enough to take a look. I like how everything to characters did felt like part of normal life for them, so the descriptions didn't feel shoehorned in, and the exposition was more like a captain and his crew having normal conversation, not like Darrel was telling everyone on the ship how to make it work for the very first time. Everyone felt very competent, which was rather nice since the path Darrel instructed his crew to take was incredibly dangerous and if they didn't know what they were doing they'd all die. Especially since one mistake in the airtunnels means almost certain death for any crew, what with the lakes of magma running through them.
'Skyships and Airtunnels' is available on Smashwords for $1.20, so please go and take a look for yourselves. This is a story about trust at its very core, and the idea of everyone working as a unit toward a common goal, not for one person, but for everyone on board is great. You get the sense of how sports teams work as a unit, and how everyone needs to play their part in order to achieve absolute victory.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I'll be back on Monday, thankfully starting my normal schedule so hopefully I'll be more awake then. For now I hope everyone has a good weekend, and gets to see some pretty shooting stars from the meteor shower that's happening. Have fun and have a great weekend!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
08/08/2012 Writing Wednesday!
Good day everyone, I hope your week is treating you well! I'm still adjusting to this new schedule, so it has been a bit slow going to me, but I'll work through it. I'm happy to be able to work again; it's great not to have to worry so much about expenses, even if my dreams don't necessarily want to agree. For now though I will keep going, since there is much to work on!
I wanted to talk about something that was brought up with me as a passing comment, but it honestly didn't cross my mind until that moment. When you're writing a series, you need to go back and read previous stories to make sure everything is cohesive in the plot. That means checking for continuity errors, location/organization/people names, and other such things. This is something I'm actually going to be starting today, but it feels a little silly I hadn't thought of it until it was pointed out to me.
Any series you write, even if it's just a two book collection consisting of the initial story and a prequel/sequel you need to make sure to check and make sure everything makes sense. Now admittedly you won't be able to do this until the prequel/sequel is done, since you're not going to be 100% certain what references are going to be made at that point. Frankly I think this step gets over-looked (since I honestly haven't seen anyone actually talk about it before) because when you get to that point there is a lot of emphasis on editing for the most recent project. This is technically part of editing though, and you need to make sure that everything flows just right.
Something else I have realized about this step is that it's going to be important how you handle any possible continuity errors. It could be something small like a mention of where a person was, maybe it was assumed they were in a room with all the characters in one story, but in another you mention them walking in to join everyone halfway through the conversation. Since you're looking at your initial work, you have the option, and this is going to sound weird, to make the change in that version and not the new one. Authors put out new/revised editions all the time, so you shouldn't feel hesitant to do one yourself, especially if any changes you make actually improve the overall story.
Now remember, this step is going to feel like you're going over and editing your first story all over again, which you kind of are, however what you're looking for are not spelling and grammar errors (though if you find them, you may want to take care of those) you're simply looking to make sure things make sense. I've never seen a prequel/sequel in any form that doesn't reference the original in some way; this is why cameos exist. If you write a prequel/sequel without mention of previous works in some way, shape, or form, it's not going to feel like the same world. The references are the real reason you're going back and reading the original work; you want to make sure they're accurate.
The easiest way I believe to do this is to get the piece printed out. If you try to focus on it electronically you are actually limiting yourself and putting fate in the hands of machines. While everyone does rely on computer and such a lot more than some people would like to admit, telling yourself that you're only going to check the revisions on your computer means you are going to always remember where your place was by either keeping the file open to the page at all times, or by having a magical memory. The problem with this that you likely aren't going to work on it every single day of the week, which means there is time for you to forget where you were. Also computers tend to want to update by themselves to make sure they're running properly, meaning the file will close and you'll loose your place that way. This is why I recommend printing it out, and it also lets you see for yourself where you're making the revisions. Most office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot offer printing services, so I also recommend utilizing them to print out your documents. I've fought and lost with too many printers to deal with that myself again.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I hope the rest of the week sees you well. I will be back on Friday for my normal review day, so please remember to stop by and tell your friends about it. Until then, have a great rest of your week!
I wanted to talk about something that was brought up with me as a passing comment, but it honestly didn't cross my mind until that moment. When you're writing a series, you need to go back and read previous stories to make sure everything is cohesive in the plot. That means checking for continuity errors, location/organization/people names, and other such things. This is something I'm actually going to be starting today, but it feels a little silly I hadn't thought of it until it was pointed out to me.
Any series you write, even if it's just a two book collection consisting of the initial story and a prequel/sequel you need to make sure to check and make sure everything makes sense. Now admittedly you won't be able to do this until the prequel/sequel is done, since you're not going to be 100% certain what references are going to be made at that point. Frankly I think this step gets over-looked (since I honestly haven't seen anyone actually talk about it before) because when you get to that point there is a lot of emphasis on editing for the most recent project. This is technically part of editing though, and you need to make sure that everything flows just right.
Something else I have realized about this step is that it's going to be important how you handle any possible continuity errors. It could be something small like a mention of where a person was, maybe it was assumed they were in a room with all the characters in one story, but in another you mention them walking in to join everyone halfway through the conversation. Since you're looking at your initial work, you have the option, and this is going to sound weird, to make the change in that version and not the new one. Authors put out new/revised editions all the time, so you shouldn't feel hesitant to do one yourself, especially if any changes you make actually improve the overall story.
Now remember, this step is going to feel like you're going over and editing your first story all over again, which you kind of are, however what you're looking for are not spelling and grammar errors (though if you find them, you may want to take care of those) you're simply looking to make sure things make sense. I've never seen a prequel/sequel in any form that doesn't reference the original in some way; this is why cameos exist. If you write a prequel/sequel without mention of previous works in some way, shape, or form, it's not going to feel like the same world. The references are the real reason you're going back and reading the original work; you want to make sure they're accurate.
The easiest way I believe to do this is to get the piece printed out. If you try to focus on it electronically you are actually limiting yourself and putting fate in the hands of machines. While everyone does rely on computer and such a lot more than some people would like to admit, telling yourself that you're only going to check the revisions on your computer means you are going to always remember where your place was by either keeping the file open to the page at all times, or by having a magical memory. The problem with this that you likely aren't going to work on it every single day of the week, which means there is time for you to forget where you were. Also computers tend to want to update by themselves to make sure they're running properly, meaning the file will close and you'll loose your place that way. This is why I recommend printing it out, and it also lets you see for yourself where you're making the revisions. Most office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot offer printing services, so I also recommend utilizing them to print out your documents. I've fought and lost with too many printers to deal with that myself again.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. I hope the rest of the week sees you well. I will be back on Friday for my normal review day, so please remember to stop by and tell your friends about it. Until then, have a great rest of your week!
Monday, August 6, 2012
08/06/2012 Magnificent Monday!
Hello everyone and happy Monday! I hope you were all able to keep yourselves warm this last week. We hit record highs in my area, so that was a test of endurance. Thankfully my parents provided us with a new air conditioner, so that managed to help a lot. The heat made doing pretty much anything difficult, as it meant leaving the house, or the car, or whatever building I was in was met with a wall of ridiculous heat. It was awful.
I'm still adjusting to the new schedule of working, and today is looking like it's going to be rather tough. Though I set my alarm for a specific time, and I knew well enough that it was going to be fine, I woke up several times throughout the night absolutely convinced that I was going to be late. My plan is to load up on caffeine and do everything in my power to stay awake today. Though others will be starting today, so hopefully that will keep me focused.
I really look forward to the point where I feel comfortable bringing stuff to work on with me. Right now it's mostly able meeting people and trying not to look like a loner. The last thing I want to do is say 'I'm new! It's awesome to be here! This is my laptop, I'm going to appear to be ignoring you now.' something about that just seems like it won't work at all.
Last week I made the decision to lower the price of 'The Light Rises' and I'm sure many people are wondering why I did that. The main reason was rather simple; $2.99 is the average price of ebooks, and I didn't want to go beyond the average for my first full-length novel. The other reason is that with 'Rending the Seal' being in editing stages, I want to help encourage others to read the first book, and lowering the price is a great way to do that. At least it seems like it would be to me, but I'm not a marketing person, nor have I ever tried to be.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Be sure to come back on Wednesday for my advice post. I think I have the times figured out pretty well to balance the posts with the work schedule, though I'll admit I'll be happy when I go to 10 - 7 and get a bit more time to sleep before going into the waking world. For now I hope everyone has a great start to their week, and I hope you have a good day!
I'm still adjusting to the new schedule of working, and today is looking like it's going to be rather tough. Though I set my alarm for a specific time, and I knew well enough that it was going to be fine, I woke up several times throughout the night absolutely convinced that I was going to be late. My plan is to load up on caffeine and do everything in my power to stay awake today. Though others will be starting today, so hopefully that will keep me focused.
I really look forward to the point where I feel comfortable bringing stuff to work on with me. Right now it's mostly able meeting people and trying not to look like a loner. The last thing I want to do is say 'I'm new! It's awesome to be here! This is my laptop, I'm going to appear to be ignoring you now.' something about that just seems like it won't work at all.
Last week I made the decision to lower the price of 'The Light Rises' and I'm sure many people are wondering why I did that. The main reason was rather simple; $2.99 is the average price of ebooks, and I didn't want to go beyond the average for my first full-length novel. The other reason is that with 'Rending the Seal' being in editing stages, I want to help encourage others to read the first book, and lowering the price is a great way to do that. At least it seems like it would be to me, but I'm not a marketing person, nor have I ever tried to be.
Thanks everyone for stopping by today. Be sure to come back on Wednesday for my advice post. I think I have the times figured out pretty well to balance the posts with the work schedule, though I'll admit I'll be happy when I go to 10 - 7 and get a bit more time to sleep before going into the waking world. For now I hope everyone has a great start to their week, and I hope you have a good day!
Friday, August 3, 2012
08/3/2012 Fantastic Friday!
Welcome every to another Friday posting! I hope this week treated you all well. I have started working, and while I'm tired, I'm grateful to have a job to go to. For now though, let's get right down to business.
I bring you 'PASCO' today by RK Moore. It's a short story that follows Max, a man that was given a job that a local temp agency told him to apply to. The problem is the man who interviewed him (if it can be called an interview) won't tell him what the job actually is and just offered it to him. Not wanting to get into trouble, and almost ready to give up from a long and fruitless job search, Max accepts the offer not knowing fully what he's in store for.
The main reason I picked this story is because it scratched a little nerdy itch for me. PASCO is an organization that deals with the unknown, and I seriously love stuff like that. This story reminds me of the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) from Hellboy, but also as the touch of humor that 'The Laundry' does, and I can get behind that. It's a delight to read and I wanted to share it with everyone here.
'PASCO' is available on Smashwords for $1.49, so please tell your friends to go there and check it out. I don't believe it qualifies for the Premium Catalog at this time, so Smashwords is going to be where you want to pick it up from. Go check it out and tell your friends all about it to help give this author a big push!
Thanks everyone for stopping by today! As a reminder, the price has been lowered on 'The Light Rises' so definitely check it out and let everyone know! So far the price update has only hit Smashwords, but give it some time and it should go to the other retailers as well. For now though I must be off, I wanted to make sure I got this up before I left to give the review the most time possible to get around the web. I hope you all have a fun and safe weekend, and if you're in the Washington area, have an awesome Seafair Weekend!
I bring you 'PASCO' today by RK Moore. It's a short story that follows Max, a man that was given a job that a local temp agency told him to apply to. The problem is the man who interviewed him (if it can be called an interview) won't tell him what the job actually is and just offered it to him. Not wanting to get into trouble, and almost ready to give up from a long and fruitless job search, Max accepts the offer not knowing fully what he's in store for.The main reason I picked this story is because it scratched a little nerdy itch for me. PASCO is an organization that deals with the unknown, and I seriously love stuff like that. This story reminds me of the B.P.R.D. (Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense) from Hellboy, but also as the touch of humor that 'The Laundry' does, and I can get behind that. It's a delight to read and I wanted to share it with everyone here.
'PASCO' is available on Smashwords for $1.49, so please tell your friends to go there and check it out. I don't believe it qualifies for the Premium Catalog at this time, so Smashwords is going to be where you want to pick it up from. Go check it out and tell your friends all about it to help give this author a big push!
Thanks everyone for stopping by today! As a reminder, the price has been lowered on 'The Light Rises' so definitely check it out and let everyone know! So far the price update has only hit Smashwords, but give it some time and it should go to the other retailers as well. For now though I must be off, I wanted to make sure I got this up before I left to give the review the most time possible to get around the web. I hope you all have a fun and safe weekend, and if you're in the Washington area, have an awesome Seafair Weekend!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
08/1/2012 Writing Wednesday!
Hello again and welcome back. I hope your week is seeing you well. I'm sorry this post is a little late, but an appointment that I couldn't avoid happened this morning, and it was a long one. I start my new position tomorrow, so the post for Friday may end up being a bit later in the day, but I still do my best to get it done before I go in.
Today I wanted to talk about exposition in your work. This is a spiral that a lot of authors get sucked into without even realizing it and it takes a lot of work to get out. What I'm talking about are the details. I was caught in this myself and it has taken practice and focus to make sure that I don't go overboard, especially since my works tend to fall on the longer side. Details are important, but going crazy with them is only going to make things drag on for a bit longer than is necessary. I'm not talking about cutting all your sentences down to be short and concise; sometimes giving a good amount of detail is necessary, but it's how you present it that's going to make the difference in the end.
The place people get stuck with this is during dialogue. At first glance the temptation is to give your description, followed by dialogue, and then go from there. The thing that you need to remember is that humans tend to accentuate whatever they're saying with hand motions, body language, and other such things. The key is to take those elements and use them to help bring the environment to life a bit more. I'm not saying don't give any details of the area the characters are in, I'm saying give what you think is needed to give the reader an idea of what they're dealing with and let the character's actions help that along.
This is the point where technical writing and creative writing join together. Now I've never considered myself a technical writer, and it's entirely possible that I'm way off in my thinking, so if that's the case I apologize. However, technical writing is about being efficient, concise, and still getting the point across in a way the reader understands. The aspects of creative writing is making a world and characters your own, and it's when you join creative and technical writing that you truly get the magic going.
I appreciate everyone for stopping by today to check things out. Like I said I will be doing my normal Friday post, I just can't gurantee the time. I would also like to say thanks to anyone who helped spread the word about the Smashwords Summer Sale that ended as of yesterday. I'll see what I can do about making a new coupon later either this month or possibly September (yay birthday sale!) so keep your eyes open for that. For now I wish everyone a fun and safe rest of your week!
Today I wanted to talk about exposition in your work. This is a spiral that a lot of authors get sucked into without even realizing it and it takes a lot of work to get out. What I'm talking about are the details. I was caught in this myself and it has taken practice and focus to make sure that I don't go overboard, especially since my works tend to fall on the longer side. Details are important, but going crazy with them is only going to make things drag on for a bit longer than is necessary. I'm not talking about cutting all your sentences down to be short and concise; sometimes giving a good amount of detail is necessary, but it's how you present it that's going to make the difference in the end.
The place people get stuck with this is during dialogue. At first glance the temptation is to give your description, followed by dialogue, and then go from there. The thing that you need to remember is that humans tend to accentuate whatever they're saying with hand motions, body language, and other such things. The key is to take those elements and use them to help bring the environment to life a bit more. I'm not saying don't give any details of the area the characters are in, I'm saying give what you think is needed to give the reader an idea of what they're dealing with and let the character's actions help that along.
This is the point where technical writing and creative writing join together. Now I've never considered myself a technical writer, and it's entirely possible that I'm way off in my thinking, so if that's the case I apologize. However, technical writing is about being efficient, concise, and still getting the point across in a way the reader understands. The aspects of creative writing is making a world and characters your own, and it's when you join creative and technical writing that you truly get the magic going.
I appreciate everyone for stopping by today to check things out. Like I said I will be doing my normal Friday post, I just can't gurantee the time. I would also like to say thanks to anyone who helped spread the word about the Smashwords Summer Sale that ended as of yesterday. I'll see what I can do about making a new coupon later either this month or possibly September (yay birthday sale!) so keep your eyes open for that. For now I wish everyone a fun and safe rest of your week!
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