Category: Writing

The Order of the Good Death

2/6/2016

I have finally had a moment to review the work of the wonderful Caitlin Doughty. If you don't know her, she's the founder of The Order of the Good Death, an organization designed to overturn the sad, uncomfortable notions we have of death care in our society.

Death has been medicalized, dare I say criminalized, to the point of ridiculousness. I'll have another post soon about my friend's loss of her dear mother - peacefully at home, mind you - and the three-ring circus it turned into.

In the meantime, check out my Amazon review, and pay a visit to The Order of the Good Death!
Caitlin is a great speaker who does some super cool events. Wish I could make it to Seattle!

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Genre Confusion

5/1/2015

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Contemplating marketing, writing, and all the madness it entails...

Genre Confusion. It’s like gender confusion but without the cool clothes and support groups.Some of you out there on the magical interweb may have noticed a few threads linking me, EJ Bouinatchova, and a mysterious flower-faced lady with the unlikely name of Eve. A Floriste. See, when I started putting my writerly aspirations on the internet I was faced with a conundrum: do I market where I came from or where I am going to? I had taken a wee bit of a direction change in my writing. What had I written? A bizarre, contemporary memoir about sexuality, violence, and madness. What did I want to write? The same stuff I love to read: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror. Yeah, that’s a weird mix.

I know one author that’s bridged this fiction/nonfiction gap successfully: Tony Bourdain. So, if I was mega famous and had millions of dollars and fans and TV shows, I think I’d just say WTF and write what I want, marketing be damned. But no, I sure ain’t him. Many writer’s resources that I read said that “Author Branding” was important. People have to understand what you’re about; send a simple message, don’t hit ‘em with too much at once.

After pondering this for a while, I decided I’d have to split my identity. So I now maintain two not-entirely separate social media and marketing profiles. You know what? It’s kind of fun! They’re both me. They just focus on different aspects of me. Then the worst thing happened. Someone wanted to publish me. (OK, it’s not really the worst thing, more like the “Holy Crap I’m so excited I could plotz!” kind of thing). So the question became, which “me” are they publishing?

My publisher’s head spun around a bit as I explained my situation. His feeling? “Just be yourself. You’re cool. F**k the marketing.” WHAAATT? How can I be me, when there’s so much me to be?(Ooh, that’s good, I’m gonna tweet that). But I thought about it, and said, you know what? What the hell. He’s right. We finally settled that I’d keep the separate profiles for a sort of first-look marketing approach, but not try to hide the fact that they are, in fact, one person. So there it is. I am a giant nerd who loves all things SF/F, and I have also been a crazed, hypersexual florist struggling not to self-destruct. Say, that sounds like it’d make an interesting book. Oh wait, look, it DID make an interesting book: Go check out the self-published, rough version of my twisted memoir, get ‘em while they’re cheap! Fresh Cut will be republished as a real, professionally edited book in June, by the amazing folks over at Open Books.

Reposted from previous site. Original comment:

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Wrong to Write?

6/21/2014

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I've been in a rousing debate recently with another writer about the writing process. He's got what I think of as the Typical Writer Personality: He prefers a process that is slow, careful, methodical, painstaking, and deeply private. He never shares work until it has been through multiple revisions, and he doesn't see the point in self publishing (to put it mildly).

Me, on the other hand, I think I display an Abnormal Writer Temperament: I write and share compulsively. When I finish a 20 or 30 page segment I must run it by a trusted friend for a reality check, or I feel practically unable to continue. What if it stinks? Is heading in the wrong direction? Is setting the wrong tone? What if it's just plain boring? I desperately need feedback and reinforcement and I absolutely can't work in a vacuum. I love the self-publishing model because I can get my stuff out into the world and get a real idea of the reception.

It's not that I can't be thorough, but I write quickly and compulsively. I do revise, sure, but first I just want to get it out n paper. And I expect it to be good. I feel like if I can't get something about 75% right on the first draft then I should just scrap it and move on. Or not move on. Maybe just throw my hands in the air and go back to bookkeeping.

In short, I'm impatient, volatile, emotional, hypersensitive, and deeply vulnerable to criticism. Does this make me the worst candidate ever for a writing career, or what?

Maybe the problem is that I never wanted to be a writer. I did plenty of writing in my school years, even won some awards and scholarships. But the creative pursuit I chose for most of my life was performing arts. Now that makes sense with my temperament. But it wasn't what I wanted to spend my whole life doing, and it sure doesn't fit into my life now.

So what do I do? I feel the compulsion to write; the stories and characters are burning in the back of my brain. But I have very limited time and tolerance. Is there room in the writing process for someone like me? Can I develop some kind of hybrid method that will fit my personality and also produce good results?

I'll tell you what, If I can survive revising and publishing my first full-length work of fiction, then maybe the reading public can decide. In the meantime, I'd love to hear the thoughts of other writers on this subject: Is there such thing as the proper temperament for a writer, and what do we do if we don't have it? Comment, email, or tweet to me!

Reposted from other site- Original Comment to follow:

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To Write or Not to Write?

6/6/2014

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This excellent author, Mima, lovingly roped me into this blogging chain letter. I figured what the hell, a good excuse for me to finally start up a blog on my very own site. Et voila, here we are.

The Questions:

What am I currently working on? A fantasy novel, to be released on Kindle in three separate novellas that will each end on maddening cliffhangers, because yes, I love my readers that much. I do promise to write incredibly quickly, if that's any consolation. Part one should be out this July.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? My current work is not really high fantasy. No swords and sorcery, more knives and knavery. It takes place in an ostensibly non-magical world where ordinary people have to find exceptional bravery to face the terrors that threaten their lands. I'm going to try and subtly tweak as many fantasy conventions as I can: my characters are not perfectly heroic, and everything's not going to turn out just as they plan.

Why do I write what I do? I just love fantasy, sci-fi, mystery and horror. I grew up reading comics, Tolkein, Frank Herbert, Stephen King... These things have shaped my inner fantasy world for as long as I can remember. I love facing the darkness and finding the extraordinary in the mundane.

How does my writing process work? I have very little time in my day to write, so the stories tend to spool themselves up in my head. Then they unwind themselves in frenetic bursts during the brief moments my fingers can hit the keyboard. In between times, I do take a few minutes to outline and plan, for pacing and continuity purposes. And the rest of the time, I just listen as the characters chatter away in my head. If I go too long without writing they start talking really loudly, and I think that can get dangerous.

To continue the chain I nominate: Matthew O' Connell and Andy Peloquin.

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"The Reluctant Blogger"

Very much of two minds about this blogging thing, in case you hadn't noticed. But there's so much wonderful geekery to share! Posting here about sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and more.

The Order of the Good Death

Genre Confusion

Contemplating marketing, writing, and all the madness it entails...

Wrong to Write?

To Write or Not to Write?

"The Reluctant Blogger"

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The Order of the Good Death﻿

Genre Confusion

Contemplating marketing, writing, and all the madness it entails...

Wrong to Write?

To Write or Not to Write?

"The Reluctant Blogger"

Archives

Categories

The Order of the Good Death