Poem: The grave and the game

I made a very cynical tweet on a whim (see below) and then decided, hey, I'm going to make that into a nice dark cynical poem. Why not, eh? https://twitter.com/Lil_hamilton_/status/1211177204240941056?s=20 The image I put it on is a drawing I did a while back. Thought it worked well for it really. Anyway, the poem reminds…

Write what you want… wait, not like that

So this came up on twitter. Can you, someone not of a specific minority, write about that minority? It goes like this WRITER: Write what you wantMINORITY WRITER: No, you can't write OUR stories only WE canWRITER: So I can only write what I AM? Not what I know, experience, see in the world. Just…

NaNoWriMo for the win: two for the price of one

I have one NaNoWriMo for the 5th time out of 5 years. It was a bit closer this year due to being ill. Harder to get that word count in. So it was slow and steady wins the race instead of finishing mid-month. Two Works in Progress For this NaNo I had two half-finished WIPs…

How to survive NaNoWriMo sane

Okay so writing 50k in a month seems like and is insanity. But we do it because we are nutbars. But how do we stay at least a little sane? First analyze your actual level of sanity. Are you nutty nutty nutbars already? Then cool, it won't affect you at all. And if it does,…

Cannabis writing

So I smoking a wee bit of pot to dampen a migraine. A I got stoned. And had a migraine. It is legal here for medicinal use and recreationally. I have chronic pain so I have from time to time tried it for pain. Migraines are iffy... they always are for every treatment and wouldn't…

Almost November: NaNoWriMo time!

I just finished my final edits on book 2 of the Alignment in time for Nano. Cutting it by a fine edge as well. NaNoWriMo as you might know is the writing month of November where a bunch of us nutty writers aim to write a novel (50k words) in a month. Or more. I…

Things writer’s tears are good for

We collect our tears because writer's tears are magical and can be used in various ways. If you don't collect your tears you should start. If you don't weep when you edit... well, you need to Edit Harder... and tears will happen. Writer's tear common uses Puting three, and Only three, drops into ones alcoholic…

Copyright when self-publishing? Yay? Nay?

Here is the thing about copyright... as soon as you write something it is copyrighted. BAM done. Conversation over. Unless you need to prove you wrote that work. Huh. Hmm. Or Amazon comes to you and says 'Hey, are you the owner of this work and also prove that you are.' And I was like…

Lost Magic: Book 1 of the Alignment preorder

Lost Magic is available August 30th! Almost time. I did a preorder this time which I have never done before. When it is done I will put up the physical book for sale as well. And I have pre-sold 2 books. I know. Impressive. Don't envy me. Anyway, it is up for preorder and it…

Decluttering… does this bring me joy?

I have never read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up) But I did watch some of the documentary on Netflix. I am the sort of person that rather likes clutter. I feel comfortable in it. Likely nostalgia. But things bring up…

Stop working and start writing

So this thing on twitter how you should stop working and focus solely on your writing amused me. Because we all know some famous authors before they became famous who worked while they wrote. I think it has something to do with being able to actually live. I don't know. It is a theory. If…

Writing: How to write the Chosen One

This is often seen in fantasy fiction. The Chosen One. So use it. Go with it. And here is a guideline on how to do that. Make them male Just going to put that out there. And often white. Make them a young, white, male. Farmboy or lowly servant Make them start from simple beginnings.…

The INTP me

I noticed something on The Twitter. A lot of writers are INFPs, I noticed. And I suspect the Feeling aspect helps a lot. In life and in writing. And I was all alone in my INTPness. But we are out there. Likely randomly thinking about obscure theories and being oblivious to our environments. Now I…

Purple

So I dyed my hair purple. Because... why not, eh? I had cut it short and am on the way to growing it out long again. So while it is short I think I will muck about with semi-permanent colours to amuse myself. You can see it is currently in a curly state. It dried…

How to be a really, real writer

There are a lot of exasperating posts like this. But I have come across the true path to being a 'real' writer. I know that is hard to believe. But it came to me in a dream, so it is true. Dreams never lie, you know. And I nailed every point on being a real…

Adventures in traditional publishing: Query

So I self-publish. And I have since the economy tanked and every agent letter I received back said 'due to the economy ... but this quite good'. So I just did it myself and make every mistake along the way but mistakes just make you better. And I am trying now to pick up my…

Writing: Two spaces after the period? One?

And the war has continued since we were all told one space was now the thing to do. I keenly remember the effort it took to change manuscripts. And to learn to use that one space. And, man, it took some effort. But we were told a typewriter text is different than the designed ones…

The disabled writer

So I have a few primary chronic illnesses and a few miscellaneous ones that currently make me unable to work. Fibromyalgia Chronic migraines, that are pretty much daily with a break here and there An unknown vestibular disorder that I have had for over a year now and still getting answers Major Depressive Disorder that…

Creativity and depression

I have had a longlasting bout of depression that I am now on medication for. I am talking a decade of Major Depressive Disorder. I don't mean a bit of ennui although, yeah, I get that too... don't we all? But depression is a beast.  It is quite effective medication for me. And you hear…

What writers want for Christmas

So we are writers. We are a little weird. We seclude ourselves for long periods of time and mumble about plotlines. And have imaginary chats with our characters. We may be hard to buy for but not as much as you think. Things to get your writer friends for the holidays! Pens. We have 50,000…