My apologies for another rehash from my blog, but Mother Nature has decided to cram every ounce of barometric pressure she's made into my head. It's settled now at the base of my skull, snug and cozy, and I think it just ordered pizza. Thus, the post I've been working on will have to wait until next time. Luckily, I have this little post to tide you over. And kick the douchebaggery out of your ass.Read more
Around this time last year, I took up cycling after having not been on a bike for at least 25 years. (And BTW, those people who say you never forget—they’re a bunch of damned liars. I retained nothing more than a rudimentary sense of balance and the hard-wired response to brake by pedaling backwards, which is completely useless on a modern bike.) The other day as I was on my morning ride, it occurred to me that writing and biking have a few things in common.Read more
I'm coming off several weeks of revisions and several days of intense edits on my next release. Also, I have a new kitten, which is like a new baby--I'm not sleeping well. This is an old entry from my blog that got buried--hopefully someone will find it useful!
A few people mentioned on my Twitter feed today disliking the backlash against NaNoWriMo. The article in question raised some excellent points that I've thought about as well--such as the push towards selling to writers instead of readers, and how we should be celebrating readers since they're the reason we can pay the bills and all--but it was wrapped in something that seemed to irk a lot of people. Apparently my F-list at least didn't appreciate their process being criticized, and their sentiment was "who the hell cares if people enjoy NaNo?"
Who, indeed.
I've talked about advice before when it comes to writing and how to deal with it when everyone contradicts one another. And I'm going to speak about advice again:
A couple of weeks ago, I ran into a family member that I haven't seen since I was fifteen years younger and fifty pounds lighter. His first words to me were, "Can you get me published?" I stammered for a moment and eventually managed to say, "No." I wanted to explain a few things to him, but seeing as how I would not be of any use to him, he lost interest. This little exchange has continued to swirl round my head since.Read more
OK, writers, this blog is aimed squarely at you. I’ll warn you up front that it won’t be pretty. Some of you will probably be damned offended, actually. That’s okay.
Still here? Good. I have a bit of advice to share with you:
Stop spending so much fucking time worrying about what other authors think. If you feel like you have to worry about what anyone thinks, then it better damn well be your readers.Read more
Due to the serendipity of the publishing-schedule gods, this summer I had two books come out within one month, which reminded me of an old blog post I made that resounded with other writers. I’ve never been a writer whose wisdoms get shared around the net, no top ten lists of rules, and nor do I try to be, since I mostly fly by the seat of my pants. So it tickles me to see writers on social networking sites using a phrase I coined three years ago, when my novel BRINE came out.
**This post was taken from my blog. Our fur baby is currently at the pet hospital, so I wasn't able to come up with something new. My apologies**
Today I received a review for one of my stories. It was a fair review, although the reader didn't like my work, because the reviewer noted something that is (without a doubt) true.
I've been in a funk of late, and although this is the Evil League of Evil Writers, I couldn't come up with a blog post that didn't involve the writing advice equivalent of "Damn kids, get the hell off my lawn!"Read more
Hello, my name is Elaine, and I’m a writing addict.
No, wait, that’s not exactly right. I’m addicted to creating stories. In the culture we live in, those stories are mainly transmitted via the written word. But that’s just the medium; what I’m really jonesing for is a couple of good characters, some drama, a few moments of bleakness, that cathartic breakthrough, and maybe even a little hit of denouement.Read more
By night, I write massacres and action and occasionally kissing which usually leads to said massacres and all kinds of wacky supernatural hijinks. I am, and always have been, a writer.
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