As I approach the latest edit on my novel, it has struck me that running through it are some of the broad influences of my favourite stories. That’s inevitable, of course but two of my major influences stem from works at opposite sides of the literary spectrum. It makes for some interesting imagery in my
So, I’ve been swept up editing my upcoming novel. It’s not the first time but I’m hoping it’s the last time before I send it out to a professional. And Proof-Readers and Beta Readers and so on. There are multiple levels that a book passes through before it hits the market and I’m learning just
I’m a bit busy these days so I thought I’d repost an old Doodle Blog for your enjoyment. One of my distractions lately has been this little gentleman to the side. His name is Tars Tarkas, after the 11 foot tall, green, four-armed, tusked Martian warrior from the Mars novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He’s
When I was first asked this question the answer that immediately sprang to mind was: “It depends.” For our fantasy-adventure, graphic novel trilogy, The Sorcerer’s Children, I had been reading a lot of Celtic mythology, fantasy and non-fiction history. In that case, the setting or world swirled around in my head with the history of
Whether in novels, films or comic books, modern storytelling is often divided into Genres and Sub-Genres. One of the challenges I’ve faced as an author is understanding what “Genre” my novel falls into as I’ve included elements from more than one. In terms of marketing, every writer needs to understand where their story sits whether
So, what’s the most-asked question people in creative occupations hear from others? It’s: “Where do you get all your ideas?” That question or a variant is one that every creative will be asked at one time or another. For myself, it’s not necessarily difficult to answer. I’ve found for me, my ideas often begin with
Jumping into the life of a novel writer, I’ve discovered there are generally two main approaches to the task. This is where the terms “Plotter” and “Pantser” come into play. However, if you’re like me, you fall in between these two camps. Yes, that means you’re a “Plantser”. Below, I explain, via doodles, the most
Way back in 2019, I went through a “dry” period. I struggled to do more than doodles at times and was feeling disenchanted with the visual art world. To get past that I decided to try expanding my skills in a different direction. To be accurate, I’ve always been a writer but is was secondary
Well, I didn’t expect to be here at this time. It sometimes seems as though 2021 is trying to live up to 2020’s legacy for crappiness. Not to be too negative or anything but one’s web site going Ka-Blooey is not something we were wanting to deal with at this time. Admittedly, an overhaul of
