Book Brouhaha

For some time now I've been developing my Muzik Chronicles world.  For some time I focused entirely on the blog but lately I've been developing the world more through series of novelettes. I have to say, I love it.  The stories never make me any money but I really don't care. However!  I have now gotten to a point where the universe is expanding.  New characters, new planets, terms... the list goes on.  How do I keep track of all of this?  The blog does help me keep track of species and planets.  But the characters.... I honestly don't know how George RR Martin does it. It almost seems like it's time to make an Excel sheet?  Or something?  I'm not sure if that would make this more or less complicated...

Summary: The Memory Man is an intriguing new short story from bestselling British author Helen Smith. Two women become friends in an abandoned post-apocalyptic building. A psychic makes contact with a lost soul. His apprentice tries to find news of a man he has lost touch with. Fragments of memories are traded and twisted. Friendship provides comfort, but the recovery of memories brings torment rather than reassurance - until truth becomes secondary to survival. Review: I can't help but like Smith's style.  Even after ruthlessly throwing her characters into a grim situation the tone of the story always remains cheeky.  This allowed me to instantly connect with the characters and feel genuinely interested in their fates in a comparatively short space of time. I would say that, as a whole, I liked The Memory Man .  But it did seem to suffer from one major flaw: transitions.  Not quite  enough attention went into providing backdrop for the tale. ...

A few months ago I wrote about how my writing schedule had to change for 2015 .  I felt the need to follow up now that some time has passed. So far I've remained extremely consistent with sitting down to write each weekday.  I still haven't been able to work myself back up to a strict word count but I don't see this as a sign of losing steam with my writing. Quite the opposite, in fact. For about a two years ago I made the decision to treat writing like it's my job, which, for the most part, was a good thing.  It made me buckle down and get serious about my publishing schedule and keeping track of income and expenses.  It made me start the process of really  honing skills.  I haven't mastered these skills yet but I feel I'm heading in the right direction. But I'm starting to realize more and more that my treating writing like a job was a source of deep frustration.  It was a necessary act to push me to the next stage but now I'm glad I was forc...

So I feel like I have a fairly decent writing routine going.  I get stuff on the page, I get stuff published.  Success! But blogging always seems to fall by the wayside.  I like blogging.  I actually feel bad when I forget to write a post.  More importantly, it's a way for me to "think out loud."  Yapping to myself is one of my best learning tools.  And yet somehow it always gets shoved to the back of my mind/day. I've been trying to figure out a way to change this.  Some of the big indie authors are crazy prolific with their blogs.  Like, they will crack out a 1000 word post every three days.  How???  Writing is their job, that's how. However, that's no excuse. What about some of you regular bloggers?  Do you devote one particular day to blogging?  Or do you write as the spirit moves?

Summary: The beginning of the End starts now. For some of us, Life can be cruel, dealing us a losing hand and for Matthew Radley, a young Wiccan practitioner that is exactly what he got. After a lifetime of chaos, pain and losing himself, he finally got everything he wanted, the woman he loved, the future he desired and a reason to live, but in a single moment he lost it all. Unable to take the pain and no longer desire to live, Matthew takes the one thing he has left, his own life. For Matthew, his story has to end, in order for it to begin, his story has no happy ending, for his is a life of Love, Magick, Corruption, & Death and only asks for understanding. Review: The title page of this short story makes it abundantly clear that it is part of a larger series.  When a story is labeled as such I try not to think if it makes a good "standalone" but rather "would I read the other books in the series." Unfortunately  Dead on the Floor  simply has ...

I was reading this article by Business Insider  here  that suggests that successful creative people all share the ability/trait to say "no."  In other words, they don't allow for others to monopolize their time.  It was interesting because the thought never occurred to me yet saying "no" is such a huge part of how I operate from day to day if I want to get some writing done. I made the decision a few years back that I wanted to take my writing seriously.  I know this sounds kind of obvious.  I mean, what writer doesn't take her writing seriously?  But I feel there a distinct difference between aspiring  to be a writer and seriously writing .  The main difference being a dogged determination to put the butt in the chair and words to paper on a regular basis come hell or high water. The moment I took writing that  seriously is when I started having to say no.  A writer can aspire all she wants but if words are going to go on that ...