Stupid rules.

I haven’t been able to write much here in a while. I have school going on, a son, work, I’ve been sick off and on, all that fun stuff that sort of gets in the way of bloggification. That said, I haven’t entirely forgotten about it and thus, here I am.

Anyhow, for a while I’ve been wrestling with a topic for my grand blogging comeback, which isn’t really grand in any way shape or form. I thought about doing something on promotion, decided against it. Someone suggested I go on a political rant, and I definitely decided against that. I seriously considered kittie pictures, because, well….KITTEHZ!

Though, when it all came down to it there was one thing that really bothered me. These certain writing rules, that people hold up as some sort of holy scripture. This idea that there are these hard and fast things, that if you do them, instantly you’re going to be better at your craft or that they are the “right” or “best” way to do it. Well, to that I say bollocks. I’m gonna tear these little rules apart….kind of.

So, without further adieu:

Promoting a Book via Social Media (Or Don’t be a Commercial)

So you got the word that your book is gonna be a reality. You’ve signed away most of your soul on that nifty contract. Now, comes the time to start generating some buzz, getting some folks on board with the idea of purchasing your magnum opus. This means you’ve got to promote it and get it out to the unsuspecting masses. Now, since we’re all children of the internet age that means that social media is going to be our first outlet.

This really says it all.

Writing is, in and of itself, a process. It takes some sweat, a little blood, a copious amount of either booze or coffee, and a whole metric shit ton of determination. With anything, there’s gonna be some times where putting your head and slogging through the rough patches is nigh impossible. Sadly enough, that’s just what you have to do. You have to put your head down, soldier up, and carry on my wayward son.

With that in mind. Motivation helps, so I found this. It works.

Why I do this thing

I’ve seen more than a fair share of interviews and the like where an author will say the number one question they get is where their ideas come from. Honestly, I can’t recall a single time when I’ve seen an interview where an author was asked why they write. That’s, I don’t know. I think it’s kind of profound.

Anyways, I figured I’d actually write a bit on why I decided to be a writer. For me, honestly, it’s about one thing really. Well, two, but I don’t think that finally getting to make out with a girl dressed like Aayla Secura because she saw me at a Con and I wrote a book is A. Ever going to happen, or B. worth exposing the depths of my nerdness in blog form over.

I remember I was writing Demon Jack for a good portion of the Fall and into Winter. I can’t, right off the top of my head, remember the date I finished it on. Somewhere in the writing of Jack, Newtown happened. It sort of dawned on me then, watching the footage, why I do what I do. We live in a world, that while it possesses infinite beauty and wonder and all that other hippy stuff, is downright nasty sometimes. That kind of nastiness, well, it can weigh on you a bit. I remember, next time I saw my son after the shooting, scooping him up and pretty much smothering the poor guy with a hug.

The point is, that incident sort of reminded me of why I do what I do. Writing and reading both have always been an escape for me, a chance to put this world away and go somewhere else for a little while. It’s the same for a lot of people I’m sure. I feel like if I’m able to contribute to that, I should.

I mean, I’ll be honest, I’m not in this for the money. I’m not in it for fame or the groupies (do writers even have those?). I’m just in it because I can give someone a chance to be a little happier, simple as that.

A Soundtrack You Say?

Pretty much everyone I know that writes in some way shape or form claims that music is the great muse. I can’t say I disagree. I won’t get into the whole process that I use as far as writing goes (at least not in this post), but I thought it might be fun to post a playlist of sorts.

Mostly I’ve tried to focused said playlist on the character’s that are sticking around for a while. Granted, this isn’t everything I listened to while putting Demon Jack together, but it’s a handful. It’s sort of the stuff I used to get a lot of the vibe down for the setting, characters, and the like. That said, I’m not going to give out too much info (see any at all) about the characters, at least not yet.

So, without furthur adieu…

On DND, Dice, and Writing

I wrote this a while back for another blog. I found it a couple of hours ago and figured I’d go ahead and toss it up here, you know, for the sake of posterity and all.

See ya around T

And so it begins…

Well, it seems as though I’ve gotten myself a contract to publish a book. To be perfectly honest, I’m not really sure what to think about that. I’m sort of shell shocked by it still. I mean, this is a dream I’ve had since I was a wee lad and now that it’s happening, it’s all just a little surreal.