Good morning, Readers!

So, a while ago, I wrote a lot about my frustration with how little I’ve managed to gain traction as a writer in the world. I talked a lot about how so much of this is down to chance. But a lot of it is also a personal failing of mine.

I don’t know how to market. I don’t know what to do to broaden my reach, to have folks give my book a chance, I’m not a groundbreaking writer. But I’m not terrible, either (I think). My stories are decent. I honestly think that if people gave them a chance, they’d perform pretty well. I need to figure out a way to get my work out there, get people reading it, talking about it (word of mouth is the best marketing, after all).

Acknowledging that I was partly to blame, instead of cursing my terrible luck (listen, I’ve never been particularly lucky), I bought myself a book to begin trying to teach myself how to market ... without being a pain in the arse. There’s nothing I hate more than the feeling that someone is trying to sell me something, and I didn’t and don’t want to be that person, you know?

Anyway, I have taken my time with this one, as there are three other books I’m currently reading - one about metaphysics and the occult (it’s fascinating to me) and the other being fiction. I’ve actually finished a fiction book already and I’m onto my second. More about that later, as I have some thoughts on it. As it stands, I have had this book for a month and I’ve only just now finished the first section.

It talked about having a professional author headshot.

I don’t have one.

I have a couple of photos of me, which I’ve been using, but they aren’t professional headshots. They’re just random photos.

I do so hate photos of myself. But I did promise I’d do what I could to give my writing the best chance possible.  I decided that I would follow the recommendations in this book to a T as long as they made sense to me. So, professional headshots it is.

As it happens, I don’t know where to look for that, or even what I’d want for a professional shot. I’d want it to reflect me, obviously. It is considered unprofessional to have a photo with one of my swords, covered in paint and surrounded by books? Because that is pretty much me in a nutshell.

*sigh*

While I contemplate the kind of headshot I want, I’m putting out feelers for a photographer. I am, of course, absolutely going to pay - work and skill has value, and I have a weird compulsion to ensure that value is recognised and paid, but though I’m working and have some income, not a lot of it is disposable. So I’m looking for someone at a reasonable price in the Ottawa area.

If you’re a photographer specialising in headshots, or you know of one, drop your details/recommendations in the comments, and I’ll add you/them to my research list.

Thanks for your help. I’m off to start researching photographers and price lists.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I'm over on my art blog today, writing about a project that got me painting again.

Good morning, Readers!

I didn't write at all last week. Not a single word. Not even a blog post.

I was not in a good place. I was so exhausted for no good reason.

That's not entirely true. There were many reasons. Work, home stress, unfulfilled wishes, life frustrations, unresolved grief... I had reached the limit of my ability to hold it together, and had reached burnout.

I didn't write a word because I couldn't. There was nothing left in my tap.

Instead, I spent my lunch hour, which is the only time I have to write, sitting in misery, letting my eyes rest and my mind wander. I couldn't write. I couldn't even muster up the strength to try. I just sat.

I'm less annoyed at myself about it now than I was last week. I realise that I needed the rest. I needed to let my mind rest. I needed to gather my strength and get my head straight.

I'm not quite there, as is evidenced from the lack of posting yesterday... again.

But I'm closer. And I will be writing again this week.

(As of the writing of this, it's Monday afternoon and I'm at home, recovering from the effects of the first vaccination jab I received Sunday. I will be heading back to bed when I finish this post and schedule it)

So, as has become regular for me of late, I failed to reach my target.

Oh well. I'm currently too tired to care.

Right, back to bed for me.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Before we begin, I know I’m behind on the The Untamed recaps. I had to put those away for a little bit as I caught up on other work. I have every intention of getting back on track this weekend. They’re a surprising amount of work. Okay, on with today’s weekly update.

First, I’m celebrating as of the writing of this with a glass of wine. This week, I made my target. Finally. A week where I hit my mark. This isn’t to say that I hit the thousand word mark every day, but I wrote over the mark enough on the other days to make up for my shortfalls. Here are the stats:

When I did the tallying, I almost cried. It’s been really difficult trying to get my words on the page of late, and finally hitting my mark was such a huge relief.

I am roughly around the 130 000 word mark for this one, and there’s a lot more to write about. None of it will be as exciting as the bits I just wrote, but that’s kinda the nature of the story. The focus isn’t on the heroic moments of this one, but the quiet ones; not the heroic actions of one, but the deep abiding love between two friends. It’s the small moments that make this story.

Which is why I think this will be a hard sell. Apart from, well, the other thing.

In any case, while the ending of the book appears as far away as ever, I’m stumbling ever closer to the end. One word at a time.

I’m feeling good this week.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

​I'm over at Black Gate Magazine today, with a movie review.

Last weekend, I splurged a little and bought myself a ticket to see the new Mortal Kombat film. Film is giving it a bit much, to be honest. I saw the new Mortal Kombat movie. Here is my review:

Silly nonsense that was nonetheless very entertaining. I do not regret the splurge.

Look, this movie isn’t great. It’s barely good. I’d so so far as to say that it’s bad. However, it’s precisely because it’s bad that it’s good. Hear me out.
​
One of the best things about Mortal Kombat is that it leans heavily on its own silliness. It doesn’t shy away from the ridiculousness of the video game premise: that there are multiple realms, and every realm sends forth champions to fight in a high-stakes tournament. As part of the rules, if one realms loses enough times, another realm has permission to annex it. The film opens with Earthrealm (us) on the verge of invasion from Outworld. If we but lose one more tournament, it’s over for us.

Good morning, Readers!

​I neglected to do this last Tuesday, when both the weekly and monthly writing update was due, so I'm doing double duty this post.

Right, so, it's not so great news.

Last week I managed to fall quite behind on my target, writing just four words on one of the days. Granted, it's four more words than I had previously, but it's still not good - especially since there were two other days I did not hit my goal at all. Of those days, I did not even make it to half of the daily goal.

It was not a good writing week last week. Here are the numbers:

So, with three of the four weeks having not met my target, my monthly goal naturally fell quite short. Here's what that looked like for the month of April"

Abysmal.

Granted, there was (and is) a lot of upheaval going on around me still, so it stands to reason that I wouldn't be able to write nearly as well as when things are better. Still, I'm quite disappointed in myself regarding April's numbers. Better luck for May, let's hope.

Speaking of May, the first week is over and I find myself once again a little short of my goal. Here's the numbers for that:

So, not good again. I was, thankfully, only three hundred or so words short rather than two thousand, so it's fine. I suppose. I'm not thrilled. 

But what can you do but shrug and continue on. I'm behind, but still going forward. I'll get there. For now, all I can do is keep striving. So, strive I shall.

Ciao.

Good morning, Readers!

I’m still dreaming of my little cottage in the woods, with neighbours too far away to see. It’s funny how much my goals have changed these past couple of years.

But that’s beside the point.

I was fluffing around the interwebs the other day, as you do, and someone on Twitter asked a very interesting question.

And it got me thinking.

I am, of course, flattering myself even entertaining the idea that any of my books would ever become a film, but let’s pretend that is possible for any and all of my titles.

Would I be worried that they’d ruin it? I suppose that depends on which studio is making the thing, and which people are helming it, and whether or not they decide to consult me at all. Filmmakers and writers are increasingly savvy, thanks largely to an audience that is quite sophisticated and opinionated.

That said, I also understand that books and film are wildly different media. Their commonality is that they exist to tell stories, but the manner in which they do so is vastly different. Despite the recent lengthening of movie run times, films do not have the same room to explore, explain and describe. Nuances are easier to convey, as are the inner lives of characters, in books. Movies don’t have that. Everything must be explained visually, or in dialogue. Voice overs could be used, but that has a tendency to be very cheesy and ought to be used sparingly.

So, I would not require the film to hit all the points the book was able to.

What I would hope for, more than anything, that the film remains true to the spirit of the books.

If Skylark was ever made into a film, I would hope that they wouldn’t make Skye merely a pretty fuckboi. He is that, but there is nuance there. I hope they wouldn’t ignore his PTSD and other traumas. I hope also that they wouldn’t turn it into a military-worshipping, aliens are bad, let’s kill them all kind of movie that usually marks first-contact science fiction/space opera (with some notable exceptions). I hope what they make the main thrust of the film rebellion against injustice, and right action.

If Daughters of Britain was turned into a film, I would want it to be women led. I think there’s something in the feminine eye that would give Mederei her profound strength and courage without turning her into a badly rendered “strong woman” trope, offering a sympathetic eye to her traumas, and they would give Adalbern the gentleness that makes him the man Mederei falls in love with. I also think that the gladiatorial battles would make for some great cinema. But I wonder if a mini-series might be a better way to tell the story. *shrug*

Human, I think would translate well onto the screen, and is a much more typical vampire story, so I don’t think they could screw it up terribly. Honestly, beyond the casting of Stoyan (if it was being done in this day, I would want Stanislavsky Yanevski), I've not really pondered any adaptations of this book for any length of time.

I will stop there, since I have too many books to write paragraphs about each one, but it is kinda fun to mull over. Needless to say, I would love to see my books adapted for the screen - big or small. I’m too small a player for that to happen currently, but I shall spend the rest of today daydreaming about it.

Ciao!