Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! I have rewritten one of the penultimate scenes in the book. I know where it starts, and how it ends and re-enters the previous narrative. It serves a lot of good purposes, and includes a great deal I had not fitted in before in my mad rush to …
Author: rodericktmacdonald
Writer, pool player.
Find me at rodericktmacdonald.com
The turn of the year. Objectives and Awareness.
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! We have entered 2024. My books are on sale until the fourth day of this year, just a quick reminder! What are my objectives for this year? Publish The Slaves and The Djinn/The Gardener and The Goddess/The Title of The Book by March 31st, unless a delay caused …
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Just received an Amazon gift card? Buy my books! (And other writers’ – but buy mine first! 0.99 from December 28th-January 4th!)
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Pushy headline, eh? Well, I meant it! If you have random gift cards/cash all of a sudden, (for mysterious unknown but possibly calendar related reasons), then splurge a little and help a writer out! If you or someone you know likes dark, grown-up fantasy for adults, then indulge, …
The Writing Life: Rushing to the next roadblock
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! And here we all are, rushing toward a day that passes all too quickly, months of anticipation dissipating in a confetti of bright shards, leaving us bloated and queasy. I love Christmas, by the way, though it was an eternal disappointment to the child I was, never receiving …
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Percentages return with find and replace minus one as their companion
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! What a pithy title, no? No. But it is a useful reduction of my recent activity, aside from decorating trees. I am now 64.7% of the way through the text of this ‘final’ editing pass. 67.8% by a different criterion. No graphic representation, as is my wont. I …
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The Writing Life: Talking yourself into progress
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Last week’s motivational chat to myself that I shared with you, worked. This blog, unknown to multitudes, ignored by many, read by the glorious few, serves a hugely worthwhile purpose in holding me to account when I have grown too lazy. Procrastination and delay can be addressed here …
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The Writing Life: Acknowledging the slowdown
Hello my friends and the occasional relative! Today is a mea culpa kind of day. I’ve done some more tinkering, but have not significantly advanced in my last pass over the new novel. I’m stuck at the reworking of a conversation: I thought I had a correct angle for the insertion of needed extras, but …
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Story Fragment #6: Tell you a Tale
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! It is story time once again. My series of old ideas rolls on. #1 here, #2 here, # 3 here, # 4 here and #5 here. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I will share I …
Rambling thoughts on travel
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! A quick word about travel. In fantasy novels travel is a hard one to manage. As a writer you find yourself researching how fast and how far someone can walk, how far a horse can carry a character, and how they were used historically (hint: galloping for long …
Story Fragments #5: The Salt Miner’s Tale
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! My series of old ideas rolls on. #1 here, #2 here. # 3 and #4 I will not link today, maybe later. You can find them here, easily enough. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I …
