Cirque d’Obscure will be published by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing on Halloween 2013! My story “Animal Memories” is included in the anthology which features an amazing collection of indie authors. We promise you haven’t seen a circus quite like this.
Good news! Dark Light Three is available in print (and e-book). My story “Neighbors From Hell” is included in the anthology. Here is the link.
On another note, I crossed the 100 page mark on my current novel, a YA fantasy. There is something special about page 100 for me. The story feels “real” and now it’s a race to the midpoint!
Awesome friend, writer, and blogger, Sarah J. Schmitt, shared my guest post over at her writing blog. Check it out!
Stay out of the hot tub! Five lessons from a half-baked writer
My short story “The Pond’s Edge” has been accepted for Dangerous Dreams, an anthology by Static Movement. Editor Dorothy Davies called it “a chilling story in every way.” More details when it is released.
The most common writing advice I have come across since I began writing in 2008 is write every day. Confession: I am a miserable failure following this advice.
I don’t lack the desire to write. And even with a full-time teaching job, a wife, a two-year-old son, and graduate coursework, I can find time to write. So what is it? What is my problem? Why am I not producing as I should be? Being busy is no excuse because all writers are busy.
I think the problem is scheduling. As much as I want to, I can’t get up early and write. I’m not a morning person. Mostly I’m a night writer, but during the school year, night writing is hit or miss and I often find distractions due to exhaustion. So, what to do?
When am I motivated to write and have the energy to produce? Right when school gets out! Of course, I’m tired from being on stage all day in front of students, but it’s kind of like the beginning of my personal life each day. I can grade papers and work on graduate homework at night when I’m tired and my son has gone to bed.
For now, I’m carving out an hour after school. Will this schedule be best for me in a month? Or during the summer? Maybe not. And certainly there will be days when meetings, helping students, and picking up my son will interfere. But if I want to produce I must adapt and make time for writing when it best suits my energy and motivation.
Here’s to making time to write. Best of luck, all!
I had an awesome time at Chicon 7. There were many highlights, but the best part was spending time with my writing group and wife, Amanda. I loved seeing one of the best publicists in the business, Dana Kaye, and meeting authors Lissa Price, Stina Leicht, and Morgan Keyes. Panels on dark fairy tales, the rites and rituals of children becoming adults, sudden inspiration, and dragons for real were all enlightening and idea generating.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my first World Scifi Convention and plan on attending similar venues in the future.
I have finished a major rewrite of my second novel and am beginning a new YA fantasy/mystery.
What I’m working on: Revisions of a short story.
What I’m listening to: Vampire Diaries soundtrack.
Why I’m happy: I can’t tell you yet 🙂
The devil on my shoulder says: Grading papers is overrated. Just write!
I’m working on: The never ending edit of book 2. But good news, I have a finish date in sight. I promised wifey a copy to read for spring break!
I’m listening to: 1,000 Ships by Rachel Platten (love her).
I’m happy because: I found a weekly goal system that works…most of the time it works. Okay, it has worked for a month. Good feelings about its chances, though.
The devil on my shoulder says: Coffee. NOW!
I have a list of goals for the year, but I can sum them up with a simple quote by Anne Lamott from her fantastic book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life.
“Be afraid of not getting your writing done. If something inside you is real, we will probably find it interesting, and it will probably be universal. So you must risk placing real emotion at the center of your work.”
So there it is. Write every day. Write with real emotion. I will walk the Dimholt Road and when I see the gate ahead of me telling me the way is shut, I will continue down the path of the writer.
How do you know writing is a part of you? Somethingyou HAVE to do? After four years of writing and editing I still get butterflies when I finally have a few hours of unhindered writing time, which with a newborn can be hard to come by. The butterflies today reminded me of how important it is to make time daily. Honestly, I think my soul needs it.
My baby’s doctor said to keep doing what you are passionate about because happy parents are important for any baby’s well being. This, of course, made me love the man instantly.
Almost everyone (not including my wife, thank God) has made a comment about how I might as well give up writing because when you have a baby “your life will never be the same.”
Really? Babies change your life? What sage advice this was for me from the world’s wisest people. My son has changed my life for the better. He has given me new inspiration and someone to write damn good stories for. And when he is old enough to understand, he will know what it means to have a passion for something.
Forget about the naysayers and do what makes you happy. For me that is writing.
Author J.R. Roper 