Good afterevenmorn!
Well, it turns out that a new version of the film The Crow was released last week. Touted not as a remake of the 1994 gothic masterpiece, but a re-adaptation of the original graphic novel (I have my doubts), it nevertheless garnered quite negative reviews on release. As of the writing of this, it has a 20% on Rotten Tomatoes.
This was… predictable.
Good afterevenmorn!
My social timelines have been abuzz… alright, they were abuzz a couple of weeks ago, I’m slow… with the news that a certain writer is a wee bit miffed that their attempts to be included in the programming at Worldcon this year had been left unanswered, resulting in their exclusion in the programming. Which on the surface, is not a great look for Worldcon.
Good afterevenmorn, Readers!
I have to admit, I’m a little stuck as to what to share with you today, given the horrendous news cycle. I am struggling to think of anything else but all the awful things that are going on in the wider world, save for the current work in progress that I have finally begun writing again after many, many months off (I was supposed to have finished this book in February). And I can’t really talk about that since, the book being in the unfinished first phase rough, no one will know what the hell I’m referring to when I do talk about it.
I’m not sure that even if I had anything constructive to say directly regarding this WIP that it would do any good, as it is the third book in a series, and I haven’t even bothered to shop the first book yet. There’s no point in trying to create buzz around a book that doesn’t even have a publication date… and may not, depending on how well it does during submission. I mean, I don’t have a book coming out until 2026, and if the first book were to be picked up, it’d be published maybe 2027 if I’m extremely lucky. Likely much later.
Good afterevenmorn!
I know it’s silly greeting, but I’m overly fond of it. Moving swiftly on…
I was struggling with what to write for my usual fortnightly post, and so decided that I’ll instead share some of my writing (thanks to the editors for letting me be lazy this time around!). It’s hopefully a win-win. I don’t have to think this fortnight, and you, with luck, get something entertaining.
If I were to give this an elevator pitch, it would be something like: It’s Resident Evil… but with fairies.
Look, the premise is silly as hell, but I had so much fun writing it (also, I’ve not played any of the R.E. games. I did watch Jacksepticeye play through Resident Evil: The Village, though, so that counts… right?). I hope that translates when people read it. In any case, please enjoy the first part of the weekly serial story. It goes up on my personal blog every Friday, and we’re currently on part seven, so if you’re hard up for some entertainment of a Friday, there’s at least something to occupy some ten to fifteen minutes of it! Anyway, enough with the promo stuff. Here’s the story.
Good afterevenmorn!
It’s me again. Here to wax lyrical about social media and how it is both a boon and a bane for the creatives of the world. As it is for most everyone, I think. Let’s be honest, as a means of connecting people, finding community and disseminating information with incredible ease and speed, social media is absolutely unparalleled. Of course, on the flip-side, it is a vicious tool for deliberate bullying, polarisation, and the disastrous spread of misinformation. It seems that whatever the effect of social media, be it good or ill, there is something on the other edge that serves as to balance it out… more or less.
For a writer, or any creative, really, it is an incredible tool. It is also a terrible burden. Does the good outweigh the bad, or at least is the balance a net null? It seems that if we have any hope of being successful, we cannot escape social media (however much we may detest the need of it). But is that actually true? Is it really worth it for us to be there?
Let’s take a look at the positive and pitfalls of using social media as a creative.
Good afterevenmorn!
This post is for the baby writers out there, those of you who have finished your first book, or will be finishing soon and are deciding what to do with it. If you’ve done your research on the publishing process, this post will not come as a surprise to you. There are however, still a large number of writers entering the publishing space clinging to much-disproven ideas about what it’s going to look like.
Good Afterevenmorn!
I know that greeting is nonsensical, but I do love it, so it’s staying. it’s a whimsical kind of thing… and I need that whimsy right about now. You see, I’m exhausted. It’s not just that I’m working several jobs while trying to get a creative career off the ground. But it’s also having to deal with some kinds of people that have flooded one of my favourite pastimes. Every so often, like when a new game trailer drops, for example, they rear their terrible little heads and with their full admittedly pigeon chests bellow at the top of their lungs that they were once again not centred and they’re boycotting said game because it’s gone “woke.” Whatever that means.
Good afterevenmorn!
As I’m prepping for the release of the first part of my free serial story on my person blog (11 days!), I’m thinking a great deal about the characters I tend to find most interesting and therefore tend to write the most about — those poor traumatized souls. It’s not just that they’re imperfect (perfection is horrendously dull, I find), or even just that they’re deeply flawed. They’re hurting and more often than not, they’re acting from that place of hurt. These are the characters I find more fascinating than others both to read and write about. You see, there are two ways they could go. They could either be a hero or a villain, and the smallest slip would begin the plunge into villainy, while achieving heroic heights is always an intense struggle. Reading characters that are teetering on that knife edge is always a good time for me.
Goodafterevenmorn!
You may recall that I once said that all writing advice is bunk (sort of). I hold that to be mostly true. Knowing this, I’m still going to offer some advice to anyone out there who happens to be a struggling writer (hello, I’m your resident frustrated author who thinks of giving up three times a day. Welcome to my little support group. Do take a seat), because it’s something I desperately need to remind myself. Repeatedly. If there’s one piece of writing advice you should follow to the letter, it’s this:
Don’t quit.
Good afterevenmorn!
In an effort to try and get myself “out there,” so to speak, and figure out what marketing tricks I can use that don’t feel horrendously icky to me in order to try and inch towards making a living from my writing, I spend a lot of time on TikTok. I sometimes attempt to get my books out there, but those videos never get any views. When I’m just fooling around with the various filters they have, I often get far more views; in the hundreds or thousands. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand the algorithm, or how to take advantage of it. I am terrible at marketing. Still, I try. And I’ll keep trying. Maybe I’ll have it work out randomly. Mostly, I just waste hours of my life scrolling through my feed, which currently consists of international news, Hozier (I watched two videos and TikTok has decided I’m obsessed), and a lot of book content. As is usually the case in BookTok, there is a debate raging right now regarding content/trigger warning appearing at the front of the book.
It’s quite an interesting debate.