Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Procrastination and doubt. I have written about doubt before, in a series I think. It was quite a long time ago. I thought I had compartmentalized my doubt: not exactly put it away, but perhaps contained it. I felt confident I had developed the tools and the knowledge …
Tag: Fantasy
Reading aloud to the Demon of Perfectionism
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Okay, so the copy edit is complete. One more hill climbed, another mountain ahead. I have started the read aloud proofing pass, and am 5.5 to 7% of the way through that, depending on criteria chosen. No graphical representation employed. So far I have added and removed equal …
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Dune 2 and the difficulty of story execution
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Progress continues with the copy edit now 80-85% of the way there, depending on the criteria used. Finish line in sight. Reread and proofing remain. I saw Dune 2 this afternoon. No spoilers, but I feel a little let down by it, after loving the first film. There …
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Falling in love with my next novel, one conversation at a time…
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! I proceed apace, copy edit now at 69-72% complete (no graphic), depending upon criteria. Given that positive progress, and multiple walks in wind and sun, my mind has been turning to the next story to obsess me. I wrote two excerpts yesterday, plus a brief reminder to myself …
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Reading my SPFBO Cohort #6
Hello my friends and the occasional relative! SPFBO 8 is over, its winner revealed here. Congratulations to Small Miracles! A close run contest – check it out for some quality writing and great stories! So I finally finished #6. For me this is head and shoulders the best of the six I have read. It …
Why I Write Fantasy: Managing the Disconnect.
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! This is my sixth attempt at writing this column. I'm not saying this is the best, it's just the one I'm willing to share right now. Once I was a boy with shining dreams. Fantasy fiction, of my own making and the stories I enjoyed reading, were an …
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Progress on The Slaves and The Djinn
Hello, my friends and occasional relative! Yes, that is still the title. It remains the pithiest that fits within the format I set myself with The Thief and The Demon. I can’t lie—I will enjoy writing books without The X and The Y as a title convention! But hey, I am feeling mostly better, and …
Work In Progress Update
Hello friends and the occasional relative. Unbelievably, I am sick again. Kicked in yesterday, and now I have a hot head full of cotton wool, where thoughts sluggishly drift and dissipate. It is a huge pain in my backside, but for today, medicated up to my eyeballs to manage symptoms as best I can, I …
Coffee-Fueled Digressopedia, and Book Update
Hello friends and the occasional relative! I know, weekly update, don’t expect this to be a long-term thing. I’m having a burst of consistent output, which is fabulous, I have a deadline, which is motivating, and I’m writing, which is the whole point. So I’ve written another couple of chapters of The Slaves and The …
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SPFBO Cohort Vague Review #5
Yes, I'm still doing this. 24 to go, bitches. Then I'll read my own book last, and declare, without any hint of bias, that it was clearly the best. You know, because. Well that took a long time. No knock on the quality of the book, I’ve just withered as a reader, and now find …
Roderick T. Macdonald 