I don’t know…I have visions of people breaking down in tears…”How could you say something so harsh?!?” — What’s a normal response to failure? Upset, despair, grief, horror, shame…? What’s an abnormal response to failure? Celebration! Amazement! Breaking out the champagne! And so we try to avoid failure and gravitate toward success, because failure feels […]
How to Fail, Part 1: Why is failing so hard? Read More »
All, I got invited to talk at the Pikes Peak Writer’s Conference in April! I completely bounced off the walls when I found out; I think it’s one of those things that I subconsciously marked at “a sign of success” but didn’t know it. When I’m making more $$$ as a freelancer, I’d like to
How to Fail: Outline Read More »
I don’t know that I’m the world’s best synopsis writer, but recently I’ve improved. I was at a meeting for PPW this November, and Chris Mandeville gave a talk on getting unstuck. Talking to her afterwards, she mentioned something she called a calendar that she used to keep track of the short version of what
It encourages me when I add up the actual numbers, so I’m going to to that more often. I feel like I don’t accomplish anything, looking at it on a day-to-day basis, because I always plan to get more done, and fail. Ah, brains. They’re funny that way. Short Stories in 2010 Short stories written:
All, I have a request. This is the time of year that I gather a lot of my TBR list for the next year (I throw it all on a wish list and check my library as the current stack gets low). What were 10 best books that you read in 2010? They don’t have
Best Books of 2010 Read More »
I don’t usually do holiday commemorative posts, unless it’s “here’s the recipes for the food we ate” kind of thing, and then I usually put them up on my food blog. The reason for this is that holidays are usually either a) satisfying in a boring kind of way, or b) difficult to talk about.
Christmas De-light Read More »
I had a writer ask me this question in my slush queue, after I rejected his story. (I told him the story wasn’t what the editor was probably looking for and it had some other issues, which I gave him my opinion on, briefly.) I thought other writers might get something out of the answer,
What do the editors want? Read More »
I take New Years’ Resolutions semi-seriously; I treat it as a chance to stop and assess where I am as a writer. I don’t usually post about my goals, though, not because they’re private, but because I have felt that I’m not good enough at writing to possibly succeed at the wild goals I have.
New Years’ Noodling Read More »
I hear this question: Is steampunk dead? (Actually, I hear, “Is it dead yet? Now is it dead yet? How about now?) I’m going to set aside the issue of whether I like steampunk or not. I think ~punk will continue to evolve. Other ~punks, like dieselpunk, are shoving their way onto the scene; whether
Is Steampunk Dead? Read More »
I’ve formatted three books for Lulu.com now (for private use only), and I’m going to record my lessons here, mostly for my own benefit, because I keep having to look things up! Lulu.com is a place where you can self-publish your own books; I’ve been using it to make copies of books for gifts. Part
Formatting for Lulu, Part 1. Read More »
