There was a time I swore I would never write First Person POV outside of my own journal. To me, the lines between author and character blurred far too much, which is likely because my first attempts at writing were done in this vein. Back in the 6th Grade - yes, that's when I first … Continue reading Writing in the First Person POV
(A brief peek into this odd-ball brain of mine since the beginning of the current work in progress.) Me: Alright! It's an urban fantasy about a marital counselor to the supernatural. Werewolves, vampires, and all those magical creatures! It'll be great. Internal Editor: You can't be serious. Urban Fantasy is full of women in tight … Continue reading Arguments with my Internal Editor
She'd heard all these things before.She knew the chances of landing a traditional publishing deal were astronomical. All the statistics were the same. All the naysaying was the same. And that nagging voice telling her the minimum wage day job was all she would ever know?Yes, that too was the same.So why was this article … Continue reading The Article of Doom
I love high stakes stories. I love when the heroes have to battle against all odds and sacrifice all of themselves to reach the end goal. And I love when that end goal is "life as we know it" or Armageddon. And I love the hero who is plucky and normal but housing some extraordinary … Continue reading Abandoning or Embracing Cliché’s
Alright, so I was intrigued by the idea of editing an outline before you've gone in and started your story. Normally I get one outline done and then I have to edit it midway through the book to compensate for all the extra things I've learned about the characters and little subplots that have cropped … Continue reading Editing Outlines
As of this evening my novelette "Torven" has a completed rough draft. Given its very small length (16006 words) I have been toying around with the idea of giving it away for free or really, really cheap (after it's gone through a rigorous editing) which has led me to the normal marketing spiel/debate. I've been … Continue reading Writing and Business and the In-Between
My cork board hasn't changed since January. According to my calendar I should be on Chapter 9, not Chapter 4, of Dead Weight. That big leap I had at the beginning of the year is now completely gone. But you know what? I really don't care. Because I've been working. Granted, I haven't been working … Continue reading The Side Project
Recently I met with another local author and had one of those Zen moments where I had to decide exactly why I write. This author was very well put together, had her spiel (aka, pitch) memorized and gave every outward appearance of success. She looked, in a word, classy. Flash to me ... in my … Continue reading Marketing and Me
Woo! National Novel Writing Month starts in just a few short weeks! For those who are unaware of the awesomeness that is NaNoWriMo, take a quick visit to their website and see for yourself. The basics: you try to write 50,000 words in 30 days on a new novel/story. I consistently lose but I love … Continue reading Gearing up for NaNoWriMo
Alright, so I've edited another book nearly to completion. Persona will be absolutely, totally, and finally finished if not next week, then definitely the week after. Some of you will remember I started its major overhaul/re-write in the summer of 2013 by posting chapters once a week, but since then I've let the work get … Continue reading The Querying World and Why I Bother
AJMaguire 