The top ranking posts on this blog for 2013 make interesting reading, I think. 1. But what if Hogwarts really does exist? (February 2013) The number of people who regularly find me using search terms like 'does hogwarts really exist' and 'does hogwarts exist' is amazing. Do you suppose they are all kids reading the … Continue reading Blog highlights from 2013
Celebrating 200 posts
This, believe it or not, is the 200th post on this blog. It began in January 2011 when I decided it was time to establish an official writerly presence on the interwebs. After five years of blogging half anonymously about anything and everything (including my writing life) on my beloved Forge and Brew, I crawled … Continue reading Celebrating 200 posts
Recap on a year of Word Wrangling
Last year I made a single New Year's Resolution: finish a first draft of the novel I've been working on. Hmm. I did make substantial progress on it though. In fact I'm fairly certain I wrote the most number of words I've ever achieved in a calendar year. So, although I didn't precisely finish it, … Continue reading Recap on a year of Word Wrangling
And now for some blog joy
A few days ago I was talking about writing with joy -- but now it seems blogging with joy can be good too. I was thrilled a couple of days ago to be tagged by The Hyperteller for the 'Tell me about yourself' award. Perhaps I'm a little more excited than is warranted, but it's so … Continue reading And now for some blog joy
Word of the day: Cunctator
Cunctator noun: One who hesitates; a procrastinator or delayer When I saw this word hit my inbox (from A.Word.A.Day) last week, I knew I had to share it -- even if only as a reminder to myself that I must not embody its meaning. This evening, however, I fear I deserve it as a descriptor. … Continue reading Word of the day: Cunctator
How reviews influence my choice of books
Once upon a time it seemed as though I had hours and hours a day in which to read. I devoured books at an impressive rate. Although I'm not a particularly fast reader, I made up for it in sheer number of hours devoted to the cause. But that was before I started writing in the evenings, … Continue reading How reviews influence my choice of books
The Versatile Blogger – a show of solidarity
A lovely thing happened to me this week: the Versatile Blogger recognition was bestowed on me not once, but twice. Massive thanks to my new cyberfriends Julie Kenner/J.K Beck and Carrie Daws for the honour. I think it's perhaps more a show of blogging solidarity and support as indication of any blogging genius on my … Continue reading The Versatile Blogger – a show of solidarity
More on writers and platform pressure
Oh my, the debate about writers and platform expectations is still raging. Over the past couple of days I've spent hours knee-deep in blog posts and reader comments, my little introvert heart pounding with apprehension. (Hours not writing, I might add...) Rachelle Gardner's post on Wednesday talked about the need to quantify the size of … Continue reading More on writers and platform pressure
What I get out of blogging
Today I'm going to muse on a topic that has been floating around the writing industry blogosphere the past week or so -- which is what writers get out of blogging and how big a 'platform' novelists need in order to sell books (or to even be considered for publication by the larger publishers). Anne R Allen … Continue reading What I get out of blogging
On writing & discipline
It is an unequivocal truth that novels do not write themselves. Irrespective of how many words a writer can produce in an hour, or how many hours in a day (or even a week) can be made available to write, the fact remains that every single word and every single minute counts. Today I am mostly concerned … Continue reading On writing & discipline
E V Gregory 