Fantasy writer. Wandering between glitter and goth.
So recently I went back and looked at an older draft of Cambiare out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to see how far I'd come in the past couple of years and umpteen drafts. And I noticed some patterns. Writing tics that I've also noticed in beta reads, but common mistakes I also made. Here's …
Continue reading 5 Common Mistakes Made By Beginning Writers
Today I'm starting a new blog series about various elements of storytelling. It'll be an occasional feature whenever I feel like rambling about some specific part of writing craft. This article is about one of the most elusive but integral parts of writing: voice. You'll see it popping up a lot in agent MSWLs or …
It happens to all of us. You boot up your laptop, open up your manuscript file and think, "I hate this entire manuscript. I'm a hack. Why am I even doing this?" So what do you do when you start to feel down about your writing? Step 1: Take a few days off. You might …
Continue reading Troubleshooting: When You Hate Your Writing
So after last week’s blog post, I realized there were a few points left untouched. So without further ado, here are a few more things I wish I'd been told before I started writing with the serious intent of publication. 1. You won't be able to read for pleasure as often. How many books did …
The Cambiare candles that will be used as promotional material. We all love some good book swag, right? In this three-part series, I'm going to go over some of the items I've created to promote Cambiare, and give you the low-down on how to get your hands on them in the upcoming months. First up: …
Today's entry is a more delicate piece of ethereal harp music: "The Lost Princess" by Musika Magika and Dulcamara In Cambiare, Cirelle plays the harp, and her Faerie Nocturne is loosely based on this piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMKNd42-XcE
All right, I'm about to drop some brutal honesty on you. In particular, this post is geared toward those who wish to publish (either traditionally or indie), but are at an early point in your journey. The entire writing process is hard, and there are some difficult truths I wish some people had shared with …
Since November of 2015, I've written approximately 425,000 words. That breaks down to about 10,366 words a month or close to 340 words per day. Editing is harder to categorize, but all of those words have also undergone at least some revision, and Cambiare is currently in the final stages of editing. So why am …
A few days ago, I hit a big mental roadblock. While knee-deep in revisions for three separate works-in-progress, my brain just shut down on me. My first completed book was with my editor, and the other two were in very early drafts that needed some reworking. But every time I thought about opening one of …
Continue reading The Curse of the Perfectionist Procrastinator
This post has nothing to do with writing (unless you buy into the "write drunk, edit sober" philosophy, I suppose). But one of my other primary hobbies is making cocktails, and I've developed a few quick-and-simple regular favorites I'll share with you today. Note on simple syrup: I do keep a batch of 2:1 simple …
