The last couple weeks have been brutal. Burning midnight oil. Working on the weekends. Generally busting my ass. And none of it while working on Cold Streets. It’s been all about the dayjob. On one level, I don’t mind so much. I’ve been there a year, and it remains a vital and worthwhile place to… Continue reading Writer Report: Back in the Saddle
Category: Writing
Writer Report: Bring On The Bad Guy
I’m a sucker for a good villain. By ‘good’ I don’t just mean extravagant malevolence. Ming the Merciless is a fun character, but he doesn’t have a lot of depth to him. Remember, villains are people too. They have backgrounds, motivations, allegiances, and secrets just like anybody else does. Leave that out of your story… Continue reading Writer Report: Bring On The Bad Guy
Do It Different
Breaking into any extant field can be a daunting prospect. The argument that there’s nothing new under the sun can be made when discussing fiction, film, commentary, web series, criticism, journalism, comic books, you name it. You might look at the shelves at a bookstore, the offerings on Steam, the content on YouTube, or the… Continue reading Do It Different
Writer Report: Break On Through
Courtesy Floating Robes There is something you may not know about the writing process. The rules of writing have been discussed at length in various places around the Internet. But perhaps a semi-unwritten one is that you have to write as much as you can, as fast as you can, even when you don’t want… Continue reading Writer Report: Break On Through
Writing Weird Worlds
I have an unabashed love for science fiction and fantasy. I grew up on Star Trek (the Next Generation, mostly), and C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia was possibly the first full book series I read start to finish. The ability of a writer to completely transport an audience, be it one reader or a million… Continue reading Writing Weird Worlds
More Writer's Rules
See this? This here is the bearded penmonkey who is, in my mind, the whiskey-soaked Yoda to my whiny Luke Skywalker, the cuss-heavy Stranger to my bumbling Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, the shouty Elrond to my somewhat smelly Aragorn, Chuck Wendig. He’s going to give you the secret to successful writing. Lean close. You’ll want… Continue reading More Writer's Rules
Writer Report: Moving Forward
Cold Streets is a slow burner. By that, I mean it’s taking me a while to really get set on fire over it. I’m working on it, and I like what’s happening so far, I just haven’t carved out a great deal of time lately to put more words in sequence. I have a move… Continue reading Writer Report: Moving Forward
Writer Report: Swamped
I’d like to say I’ve made a lot more progress on Cold Streets than I have. The fact of the matter is, this week has been pretty disastrous in terms of time management in general and working around the dayjob in particular. Thankfully, there’s a long weekend ahead and I plan on taking advantage of… Continue reading Writer Report: Swamped
Writer Report: Prizes & Perseverence
Today, the Cold Iron giveaway comes to an end. Ye Olde D6 of Fate has determined the following winners: Nenad Ristic M Raine Barnes Blair Turberfield Mia Congratulations! I will be contacting you individually to find out in what format you’d like your free copy of Cold Iron. If you missed out on the giveaway,… Continue reading Writer Report: Prizes & Perseverence
Lies We Tell Ourselves
I’ve been trying to puzzle out where, exactly, the ‘little voice’ comes from. You know the one I mean. When we work, when we strain ourselves, when we step outside our comfort zones or make time for something significant, that’s when you hear it. It isn’t intrusive and it isn’t even all that whiny, but… Continue reading Lies We Tell Ourselves
