I know, I know. I probably should have mentioned all the birthday shenanigans over the last week but ... Hey, I was busy doing fun things. Like visiting Craters of the Moon and going to the movies and eating steak and having pie. (I maintain that pie is better than cake.) But in the middle … Continue reading Birthday Shenanigans and Release Buzz
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
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
I'm so happy to be joining the Round Robin Blog Hop this month. This month's topic discusses social/current event issues that are important to me and how, when, or if I allow them to seep into my fiction. Let me start off with admitting that I definitely allow social issues to be addressed in my … Continue reading Round Robin Blog Posts – Social Issues in Fiction
I know there are a lot of writers out there that just go with the flow, throwing out however many words a week at sporadic intervals, relying on their Muse to get them through. I envy these people. I imagine their Muse sitting right beside them, nagging them at all hours of the day to … Continue reading Missed Deadlines and Fighting the Muse
Me: I really don't want to kill Character A. Internal Editor: Then you really should. Me: But he's so important to the main! Internal Editor: Then you really, really should. Me: Maybe he can just be seriously wounded? Internal Editor: You know better. The very fact that you want this character to survive so badly proves … Continue reading Hurting Your Characters – Persona Version
I know there are lots people out there who just plain won't write if they do not have the proper inspiration. They follow their creative muse and lean heavily on the concept of being an artist, and those things are true. Writing is an art and yes, sometimes you just plain don't want to write. … Continue reading Writing While Unmotivated
My writing process is a little odd. I can't start a story with an outline but I can't finish without one either. Generally speaking I can write three quarters of the book before I have to sit down and map out the last few chapters. This allows my creative mind to build the story focused … Continue reading Breaking the Outline
Dear Diary, I spent New Years Eve sick on my couch. I did not have the joy of watching the infamous "potato drop" in my home town. I could not smell the glorious turkey breast as it was cooking in my crockpot (Thank you to my Grandmother and to my Aunt Debbie for passing along … Continue reading Self-Publishing Journal Entry #4 (I think?) — AKA, “DANGIT, HYDRA!”
I am dubbing 2014 as a success in spite of the avocado fiasco and am seriously excited to see what I can accomplish in 2015. I've already got a couple of things planned but today we're filling out the writing schedule for the whole year ... which I'll admit is like my favorite part of … Continue reading Bring it on 2015!
AJMaguire 