Some of you know I’m a dev and designer. My little company is known for gamification, but today I wanted to talk about using it in my writing. Because I did. SO FUN!!!!! I have been accused of writing this whole series to create an acceptable backstory for Ingress. Sigh. Not true. But funny. Anyhow, […]
This week, Sorrowfish went on preorder finally. As an avid audiobook consumer, one of my first priorities is creating a fantastic audiobook version. Rod and I listen to books literally every night together. It’s a family tradition that began when our kids were growing up. We did the Harry Potter series. In high school, the […]
I have a date for my book to launch! September 3, 2019. A mere 2 years and 2 months after I finished the first draft. I am consoled about my slowness by two thoughts. We are still waiting for Kingkiller 3 so I’m faster than Mr. Rothfuss. And hopefully the book two will be quicker […]
I have a small but loyal following here and wanted to give you guys an update. My web development company decided to try to launch 3 websites (in one week) at about the same time I’d planned to launch my book. Since we have to eat, we chose to be zen about the book launch. […]
I entered this into the Writers of the Future Contest and it received an honorable mention, which is a big, huge honor. This contest easily gets more submissions than any other contest in the world, so any kind of recognition from them is high praise. I did end up including this story in Sorrowfish, so […]
So I’ve been working on writing ten minutes a day. I’m writing book 2 and it’s really slow going. By the time my head gets into the space I need it to be in and I see the movie unroll in my mind, the ten minutes has turned into 30 minutes. And I need to […]
So I have a marketing plan. It’s basically going to revolve around getting reviews with some advertising. But first I gotta make some freebies and some lead magnets. Which is fun. I want to give people things they will really like. Mostly my freebies will be deleted scenes or outtakes or stories or what have […]
I think I mentioned the Resistance that comes when you try to create something. It’s hit me hard as I’m editing this book. Everything that could go wrong has. I talked about it in The Avalanche of Battles and Stab it with a Fork. So today I wanna talk about another thing that can come […]
So I’m in a Facebook group for indie authors. I posted the cover I’ve been working on to get feedback. I was actually on version 10 but posted version 9 by mistake. It had a couple issues but I left it, because after 18 years of design, I know you have to give groups obvious […]
We have looked at colors and their symbolism in the stages of alchemy, how these relate to story. We’ve looked at ring structure. The next thing to look at in our study of literary alchemy is duality. Duality pops up in ring structure. If you have a plot that looks like this: ABCBA or AABBBCCCCBBBAA […]
One Ring to rule them all…. No. Not that kind of ring. Though Tolkien did use this structure in his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Ring structure or chiastic structure is a device to tell a story. An ancient device. It’s also one commonly used when applying literary alchemy, which I started to discuss […]
Yes, literary alchemy is something I have spent some time studying. The goal? To profoundly affect your readers by allowing them to transform vicariously along with your main characters. The model has been used for centuries. Shakespeare used it. CS Lewis used it. JK Rowling used it. Suzanne Collins used it. The writer of Breaking […]
I walked into an actual bookstore. An independent bookstore, yesterday. It’s one of my favorites. Carmichael’s Books in the Crescent Hill neighborhood of Louisville. And I bought a hardback volume of How to Stop Time. I haven’t bought a hardback at full price in a while. Not from a bookstore, where I’m standing at the […]
Ok so first off. My daughter did these drawings for me and she is amazing. Thank you Emily. If you need an illustrator I highly recommend her. Just comment below and I’m happy to get you in touch. The gryphon is N’khum and the gnome is Jax. The tomb is in the Angels chapter. I […]
My daughter read several chapters of my book and complained loud and long. She knows I’m an advocate for lightjoy. I don’t like grimdark. But she said my book is dark, so dark. I think she’s right. It is dark in many places, many of them very unpleasant. But it made me think about what I mean by lightjoy. I’m […]
I’ve been reading The Flame Imperishable as I work out a lot of things in my world. It’s analysis of Thomas Aquinas’ impact on Tolkien, and it’s been helpful to understand why he made his choices, and how. I also dug up the essay On Fairy Stories, by Tolkien –a 27 page footnoted pdf. He […]
Some of you know I’m working with Long-Suffering Editrix® twice a week. Cheryl is a mentor, a coach, a cheerleader, sometimes a mommy and a kick-ass editor. I’m very thankful to have her in my corner. Even when she makes me think too much. Which is often. For instance, my homework this week is to outline […]
One of the wonderful things about writing is the ability to create worlds, a fact Tolkien noted when he wrote his mythology. He referenced this obliquely when speaking of his Valar and their role in creation. But the idea was that this creation was a “concreation” or a “creating with.” And it allows us as […]
A goodie for my Wattpad fans and beta readers. If you remember the scene with Sara and Scott in a cemetery? Well. These are photos of the actual place, St Louis Cemetery. I’ll add more in a bit but I need to edit them. There are many mausoleums like ones pictured, but my favorites are […]
UPDATE: Stephen Pressfield has a new War of Art mini course and a new site for the War of Art. Check it out here. It’s kind of funny that I started to write this post when I did. I was going to describe how Resistance, when unable to distract you, derail you or discourage you, […]
You might hear me quote Stephen Pressfield a lot. It’s his fault I’m writing fiction. He’s become something of a virtual mentor to me. Certainly The War of Art and Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t should be required reading for any aspiring author/poet/dancer/artist/musician/entrepreneur. If you’re creating, they will save you much heartbreak. Stephen has […]
So, after getting several resources I’ve already discussed (which I’m still using) I also obtained the Story Grid book and am deep into it. It’s perfect. I understand it and it is exactly what I needed. The genre bit was difficult for me at first, I thought they meant sales genre. But no. Click above […]
I’m busy. Click the little bird. ok, should likely blog this but no time and tldr right? am revising myself before I submit my work to editor (after checking in w wise people) Started here and got to step 5 https://t.co/iMhmSdkDS1 and then got these three books… — ACMiles (@A_CMiles) January 29, 2018
Before I get into this too much I wanna plug my completely talented and amazing friends, W & W Sawday. You may also have noticed me plugging them on Facebook and Twitter. I don’t plug something unless I really like it and I get nothing from promoting them. These guys are undiscovered as of yet […]
I got in a discussion yesterday about Christianity in fantasy. The blogger I talked to had proposed Tolkien didn’t introduce Christianity in his work and wondered why then it was the default in so many fantasy works. So anyhow, in the course of the discussion I basically concluded that a lot of the early fantasy […]
So we watched Kingsman 2 last night. Aaaaaaand their counterparts are in Kentucky. Making alcohol. So here in no particular order, are my reactions to their use of Kentucky as a locale. 1. It’s bourbon, not whiskey. Jack and coke is from TN, not KY. 2. We don’t wear cowboy hats unless there’s a rodeo […]
We don’t have Fells in Kentucky. We have knobs. I think they’re likely not that different. I love this guy’s blog and pictures of the fells. Good article about the knobs region of Kentucky here. The knobs are forested and that to me is the biggest difference. The lakes and hills I’m seeing in the […]
I’m actually quite sad to see 2017 go. This is the year I wrote my first draft. I shall always remember it fondly. How did I do it? I used tools and toys. I have mixed feelings about them. Paying for these things kind of feels like buying exercise equipment. I have good intentions and […]
I wrote about 15k words and got about 10k in notes done before holiday projects for the day job struck me down like an avalanche. It certainly felt like an avalanche. Note to self: people who do online retailer support for a living can’t do much else in November. So yeah, I don’t think I’ll […]
The first time I was published was in 2006, in an anthology by Roy H Williams. You can see and download it here:http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/people-stories/ It sits on my bookshelf. My essay is on page 178. The essay follows. __________________________________________________ Date: Wed, 18 Jan 2006 01:53:50 -0800 (PST) To: Corrine@WizardAcademy.comSubject: the challenge Doug Adams wrote about a […]
So Dean Koontz had a pep talk today. An excerpt follows but you can read the whole thing here. My second literary agent was a great guy. We became friends. He did good things for my career. Then he began to decline one book pitch after another: “I can’t market this. You’re pitching bestsellers, but […]
So today I wrote words. More than 1667 words, which is important. It’s my first full Nanowrimo. I’ve done several Camp Nanos. This is different. People meet up to write together and try not to distract each other. I find that both mystifying and comforting. Here are things I looked at today for Chapter Two […]
This is my scene map. The thing right now that I’m doing is filling in the “issues” column and then notes from Critters on plot/structure. (This method is explored fully in this book, which I highly recommend) It’s somewhat hellish. There are many issues. Right now they’re ranging from…”Why is this character here?” to…”wow you […]
I kind of think I can’t write anymore until I do what I said I would. I gotta spend about 3 days critting and leaving some reviews. There’s a simple principle. If you want to receive you must give. It’s selfish and manipulative to give because you want to receive. I admit that. But I […]
So yesterday in the midst of my research, I discovered a few amazing things about Stonehenge First thing? It sings. Yes if you google “Sonic stonehenge” (and thrill a bit over the Whovian search parameter) you find quite a bit about it. You can hear some of it here. Untitled from Landscape Perception on Vimeo. […]
Sue Monk Kidd wrote a book called When the Heart Waits that speaks to my soul more with each passing year. I read it in my 30s. In it, she introduced the concept of “remaining in my questions.” As an impetuous Type A who thinks too much, I have lots of questions. John Eldredge talks […]
I’ve been dealing with my second draft and I knew it needed something. I knew it was missing the weight I wanted and I knew I needed massive changes. Overhaul. The Longsuffering Editrix® tried in her ever so subtle way to explain what it was. I didn’t get it. I’m obtuse sometimes. Then I read […]
So I whittled my 135k word book down to 17k for a contest. And to see if I could. It took me three days and I learned much about myself and about my story. Here’s why it helped me. Editing this book is really daunting. It gave me a manageable goal. I have a lot […]
Editing is where books go to die. A new acquaintance on Twitter said this to me. He’s right, and I didn’t laugh. I winced. I’ve had insanity hit me these last weeks with my business and my family. It’s been unbelievable, with my stress levels completely maxed. It’s making it hard to edit, especially when […]
I posted a book quote today that excerpts the chapter wherein the title of the book is explained. It appears in the Lorica as well. I’m still wrestling with this idea, and whether or not it has been adequately explained and demonstrated. So I want to sort through it a bit here, if you’ll bear […]
