My darlings, there is indeed forward movement!
This week and next week are for major structural revisions.  We’re talking quite major here.  Were this an architectural project, I’d be doing something akin to replacing spiral staircases with glass elevators, and installing fireplaces in place of heating ducts.  Sure, it would be relatively simple ( Read more... )

Thanks to the wonderful work of Cabil Services, we have the perfect cover for Breath of Stone.


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The Review:  As you might know, fantasy author Mark Lawrence put together the framework of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (details here), and Bob Milne of Beauty In Ruins is the book blogger randomly assigned to evaluate Sand of Bone.  Can I just say that any review whose opening sentence includes the phrase “quite astounding” is enough to ( Read more... )

Item the First: The membership of SFWA has spoken and, by a vote of 6-to-1 in favor, has changed their governing by-laws to allow writers whose success comes from independent publishing to qualify for membership.  Detailed procedural guidelines are being hammered out, and it looks like authors will be able to begin applying by March of this year.

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My internet access last night was as slow as an exhausted sloth slogging through mud with kettleballs chained to its ankles, and writing on the computer in any position -- sitting, standing, reclining, whatever -- was distractingly uncomfortable. Thus I spent some hours stretched out across the bed to write by hand while the hip discomfort receded ( Read more... )

My writing “process” has so differed from project to project, I can’t even relate to the die-hard pantser/plotter discussions anymore.  And really-when it comes down to it, a pantser is simply someone who plots in detailed prose, and a plotter is simply someone whose pantsing happens in a streamlined outline.
The writing process for Breath of Stone ( Read more... )

Getting away from phone calls, business, internet, and at-home reminders of everything I could (should?) do other than write was the motivation for the trip.  There have been far too many issues of late I've had to deal with--one of which resulted in me asking a past client if she often worked for free since she expected me to do so--and I needed ( Read more... )

This!
I should be writing on my non-fiction projects. They really shouldn't be that hard to finish up. They're based on workshops I've given for years. I have PowerPoints, outlines, and audio recordings of the workshops as a foundation. And you know what? I can't stop thinking about the sequel to Sand of Bone long enough to write more than a ( Read more... )

The opening chapter is now complete! In it, we have treachery questioned, loyalty confirmed, a touch of elemental manipulation, a dire threat, heightened stakes, and the discovery of a theft that could determine the balance of power ( Read more... )

No, it hasn't been a bad day ( Read more... )