The Mechanics of Revising: Font, Copy and Paste
After I got all excited about my spectacular “Chapter One,” I ended up revising a short story that needed some work and stumbled across different submission guidelines for various markets. I took one look at the formatting guidelines and went… “Uh-oh…ARGENTUM does not look like that…” So, I went ahead and formatted it differently using [...]
…and while we’re on the subject…
The past couple of weeks have been an exercise in humility. Yes, part of it is due to the usual trials and tribulations of scheduling and projects. But then there’s the other part… Many of you know I’ve been living and breathing on the internet for the past, few years. In that time, I’ve seen [...]
Dear Monica: Why Are The Revisions Taking So Long?
When I started working on revisions for the novel back in the Spring, I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments in my schedule. Before I started ARGENTUM, I often worked on a contract basis, which meant that someone handed me a contract and I said, “Okay, I’ll write for you.” Then, [...]
Chapter One (Otherwise Known As the Zombie Chapter)
If you’ve been following along as I wade through revisions, you might have heard me talking about how I keep going back to Chapter One. Well, I went back to it again. And again. And again. Why? When I re-read the chapter, I felt like I was puking information on the page instead of telling [...]
On Setting Outlines
Hi everyone, After coming back from GenCon, I had a few other people contact me about licensing the Violet War setting for a potential game. I took a break from revisions and started mapping out this very. big. world. I just stopped. You see, I really love this story and although I’m pretty excited that [...]
Birthday Parties for Books/Games?
As my cat, Rimmon, might say in LOL-speak…”You can has idea?” I went to a writer’s meeting on Saturday and somewhere in between talking about celebrating book launches and my deep desire to build offline support for readers/gamers, I thought about how much fun it would be to have a quarterly book/game launch party. Whether [...]
Help an Author Out, Would Ya?
So after a long and sordid discussion with the voices in my head (and those of my fellow authors) I realize that I need to work on the one thing that every author loathes more than anything — shameless self-promotion. However, I’d like to stick with providing something of value, so even though the frequency [...]
I. Am. Annoyed.
***WARNING*** A rant follows below…proceed at your own risk…if you dare… I understand the need to sell your book or your game. I also understand the need to sell “you” as a brand. Believe me, I really do and I’m right there with you. I cannot, however, claim to comprehend why on earth you feel [...]
Back from GenCon
Hi my readers, I have not forgotten about you! I just got back from GenCon: Indy where I spoke on several panels and had a great time. GenCon this year was a world of difference from last year, partially because instead of running a booth I was on several panels at the Writer’s Symposium. This [...]
She’s Sooooo Strange
My mind has been wandering in my oh-so caffeinated state, which usually means I start at Point A and loop around in a big ole’ circle for a while. Then I return to Point A after a lot of loops, twists and turns. Well, I’m back at Point A and the grand conclusion I’ve come [...]
