2021 and Done

2021 and Done

No, I'm not quitting. It is wild to think another year has passed as I consider everything I accomplished. There were tough months, and there was the return of conventions (which was a great boost to my self-esteem). I had to pivot on Buried Colony again but have found This is Not a Drill is selling pretty well as my first children's picture book. On top of all this, I taught myself how to successfully get an audiobook into Audible, which was quite an undertaking. Overall, I met most of my goals from January, so let's look back on the... 2021 YEAR IN REVIEW First Name Basis (10th Anniversary and Audiobook versions) It's amazing to think that my first novel came out 10 years ago in May. I enjoyed making the 10th Anniversary edition of First Name Basis, which includes character sketches by Robin Childs and the portions of the Fluxion Trilogy appendix that help explain the references in First Name Basis. In...
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The Benefits of Fanfiction

Anyone who has consumed a significant amount of media can tell you that there are no original ideas. Most stories merely borrow ideas from their predecessors. The fact that most stories can be categorized into a handful of core concepts proves that everything has already been done before. And yet, people keep writing stories. Part of what makes a story original is how it mixes its influences to create something new, even if the foundation is recycled. Then, there's fanfiction. Some stories are told so well that the characters and settings are adopted wholesale into a different author's new work. While this form of creative writing could be considered intellectual property theft (especially if the stories are sold without consent from the original creator), it can be used as a stepping stone for writers who want to improve their craft. Alternatively, experienced writers can find the weak spots in famous stories and re-write them to fix plot holes and character inconsistencies....
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2021 Has All the Fun

2021 Has All the Fun

Another year, another set of writing goals. 2021 will be a bit different in that I've already been hard at work getting things prepared for publication—or merely fixing up the project that I delayed from last year. Either way, I do plan to continue my goal of self-publishing at least one book each year. With most conventions postponed or canceled this year, I'll certainly have time to sit down and work on these projects. Buried Colony Despite the setback I had last year, I still plan on self-publishing Buried Colony as soon as possible (before it becomes a reality). I'll be re-working the parts that need attention in January and will get a few beta readers to check my work before proceeding with the advanced reader copies again. Fortunately, a lot of formatting and design has already been completed, so it's really just the content that needs some polishing before publication. I also hope to release this as one of the first...
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