Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Cover art is almost there! I am proofing the formatted version of the book, and it is hard reading the words again, for what seems like the millionth time. I’ve had doubts, but writers always do. I’ve also had bursts of pleasure, where the words, even a million …
Continue reading The ARC of the Universe is Long, and Bends Toward… Playing Pool?
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! I have improved my day to day constructiveness this weekend. At the cost of learning Scots. I’ll take it, for now. In perusing the internet (never advisable) I have discovered I am the worst indie author ever (by elimination), because I first published 7 years ago and have …
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! How many times can a book be finished? Many many times. Given that, I have finished making the final proofing corrections. So from my perspective the book is done. I will still read it again, because the last thing I did was a specific word check, and as …
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Final proofing progress now 63%. Getting there. This meant sadly that my self-directed learning has slowed considerably, but hey ho, progress on the book comes first. I did find time to flesh out some more ideas for the next book, writing down what has been percolating in my …
Continue reading The Distraction of Ideas and the Need for Careful Construction
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Well, I let a Tuesday slip by me at last without a blog produced! It was as inevitable as rain. In Scotland. But I have to say it was a surprise to me. I mean I thought I was going to write one at least twice yesterday, and …
Continue reading The streak is broken… Long Live the Streak!
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! So a few weeks ago I’d finished again. Well, now I’ve started again. This is not editing hell. Exactly. But I have felt moved to fix some detail work. I decided to remove all sets of parentheses (there were three), and will give $15 to the first person …
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Fourteen versions and a few fragments later, I have something approaching a reasonable blurb for the book. It is not deliberately seeded with search optimization friendly phrases. I’ll look and see what can be ‘subtly’ added. Perhaps. I wonder, given the evolution of search engines, what the latest …
Continue reading Fourteen blurbs and some physical procrastination
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! This week finds me breaking out of one funk, and cognizant of another. First, I have been doing a close reading of the manuscript, and have been noticing the little things that need to be addressed: small fixes for flow. Read 90 pages today, found one misplaced ‘and’ …
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, …
Ah, my writing holiday is almost over, as I get the developmental edits on The Killer and The Dead back tomorrow. I have one more night of imagining I’ll get a note of stunned awe, and thanks for writing such a thing of searing beauty. And writers out there, you do hope for that kind …
Roderick T. Macdonald 