It's One of THOSE Months...

Every now and then, I have a month where I'm so crazy busy that I forget that I have a blog to write in. This is one of those months.

Mostly, it's because I've been gaining more and more responsibility at Comic Booked in the past couple of months. In addition to my usual reviews and editorials, I've been writing a weekly series called Story Mode: Justice League Alternates that is, at its core, a narrative retelling of my gaming group's weekly misadventures. I'm also their designated Aspen Comics liason, and I've been writing up press releases and overseeing staff review copies sent to me by their Sales and Marketing genius, CJ. So, between balancing comic books and gaming for the site, I'm pretty busy.

Don't think that means my trilogy is on hold, however. It's a fine balancing act between Comic Booked, the day job and my original fiction, but none of these are lacking these days. It does, however, mean that I've been focusing on other writing and neglecting my blog, for which I offer my deepest apologies. This is a new kind of busy for me, and I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything in my day so I can still relax and unwind!

Quotables

"But writing does, at least for me, require quite a lot of concentration and to concentrate, you must be prepared to face the terrifying spectre of boredom without fear."
— John Green, Author, The Fault in Our Stars

Everyday Divinities Is Available On Nook, Too!

Wow, is it Wednesday already? It seems like just yesterday I'd put my short story anthology up on Kindle, and now I have more wonderful news just in time for the holidays!

Everyday Divinities, a collection of 5 short stories originally released on this very blog, is now a digital book available on BOTH Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!



Man, this week has been so draining on me. It's hard maintaining so much excitement for so many days! I've always wanted to present my writing to a much larger audience, and now it's up in the two major e-reader stores. It's crazy!

Aside from all that good news, I also have an author page on Goodreads! And you can add Everyday Divinities to your Goodreads bookshelf! Can you believe it?! It's too awesome, and it makes me very excited every time I log into that site now. I'll be making use of its various features come January, so keep a watch for that in 2012.

I hope all of you have checked out the anthology, or are about to over the holidays. If you like it, recommend it to friends! If you REALLY like it and feel that $2 is not nearly enough for the extraordinary short stories you've read, or you want to see more stories in a second collection, I'd encourage you to vote with your wallet and use that wee little "Donate" button just to the right of The Everyday Divinities Project links. If you didn't like it... well, constructive feedback is always welcome and encouraged, and knowing what doesn't work for you is just as important as knowing what does. Leave your feedback in the comments below and let me know what I could do differently.

Also, if you'd like to see my digital anthology in another e-reader format, leave a comment below and I'll see what I can do. I'm no miracleworker, but I do want to make sure that everyone who wants to read my writing is able to, regardless of the device they use.

I think that about covers it for now. I'll keep you all posted on Everyday Divinities news, as well as my other projects. Enjoy the anthology, and happy holidays!

Everyday Divinities Is Available On Kindle!

It's here! The long awaited arrival of my short stories to the world of digital publishing!

Everyday Divinities, a collection of 5 short stories originally released on this very blog, is now a digital book on Amazon Kindle!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!



I can't even begin to tell you the gauntlet of emotions that I've run since clicking that "Save and publish" button last night. This is the first time I've really put my writing out there to see if people are willing to pay money for it. It's new territory for me, which is exciting and scary and awesome and terrifying and joyous and... well, you get the picture. This is a BIG DEAL to me, and you, my loyal followers, are here to witness how crazy it will make me! Isn't that exciting?!

Now, let's talk a bit of business. This is only the tip of the digital iceberg for this mini-anthology. True to my word, I'll be converting this document into file types for use on other devices this weekend, starting with the Nook's "PubIt!" service. If there's a particular file type you'd like to see it in, post it in the comments section below and I'll see what I can do. I can't make any promises, especially if it's an obscure file type that my conversion software doesn't support, but I'll definitely make every effort to give my work the widest audience possible.

Speaking of which, those of you who know about such things will be happy to know that my anthology is completely DRM-free. I hate it when I can't transfer music or books to other devices easily, and as much as I'd appreciate the extra income, I won't make my loyal followers buy more than one copy of my work just so they can have it on multiple devices. Put it on your e-reader, your phone, your computer, even all of the above. If you like it, recommend it to friends! If you REALLY like it and feel that $2 is not nearly enough for the extraordinary stories you've read, or you want to see more stories in a second collection, I'd encourage you to vote with your wallet and use that nifty little "Donate" button up there in the upper right corner of my blog. If you didn't like it... well, I always encourage feedback, and knowing what doesn't work for you is just as important as knowing what does. Drop me a line and let me know what I could do differently.

I think that about covers it for now. I'll keep you all posted on my further plans to bring Everyday Divinities to new devices, as well as my other projects. Enjoy the anthology!

Coming Soon to a Kindle Near You

...And this time, I mean it!

After a sizable delay, my Everyday Divinities anthology is finally getting formatted! It's a tedious process of going through the Kindle self-publishing checklist to make sure everything conforms to their standards for proper conversion, but it's going to be so worth it to see my writing on a Kindle. I even downloaded the Kindle app to my phone so I can make sure it displays properly on any device!

"Wait, what about those of us who don't have a Kindle?" Don't worry, the Kindle formatting is a stepping stone to converting it into any ebook format. My goal is to have my anthology available on this blog in all of the major format types so you can read Everyday Divinities on any device you own. Ebooks for all!

I'll give you more updates as I move through the process, including an announcement once it's available for purchase later this month. This is so exciting for me as a writer, I can't wait to share my first ebook with you!

Print vs. Digital: Can They Coexist In Peace?

"Print is dead."
—Egon Spengler, Ghostbusters

Not yet, Egon, but those words definitely mean more in today’s publishing world than they did back in 1984. While concrete statistics vary depending on source and the increased availability of devices that can be used as e-readers over the years, one thing everyone can agree on is this: Sales of digital books are dramatically rising, and sales of printed books are not.

Jump over to Comic Booked and read all about Print vs. Digital: Can They Coexist In Peace?

Tell the Truth Tuesday

I’ve been pretty busy this past week. Not so much with the Comic Booked articles, though I’ve been doing that, too, but generally trying to keep an income flowing in. Also, spending time with my beloved, who is celebrating a birthday this week. (Everyone say “Happy birthday, Loki!” in the comments below!) But with everything that’s been going on, I didn’t want you to think I’m only going to be linking to my Comic Booked articles on my blog. So, let’s take it by the numbers, shall we?

1) Working for Comic Booked is exactly what it is, work. I used to go to events and talk to comic book creators as a fan, now I’m doing it both as a fan and as a professional. I talk to people and pull together information for an article, then go home and write it all up in MS Word. Then I edit the piece, maybe even have someone look it over for me if I’m lucky and have the time. I log into WordPress and copy over everything I’ve written, adding in links and uploading images to flesh it out and appease the SEO requirements, along with tags, article title, description of article, etc. Then I submit the article for the editors to review for publication on the site. All in all, it’s pretty involved and not nearly as simple as writing up a little piece and sending it in.

2) Though it may be work, writing for Comic Booked is an excellent learning experience. I didn’t even know what SEO was until I started working for them. Getting trained in how to put together an article for them has helped my own writing significantly (specifically in terms of my own blog), and I’m sure there’s still more to learn.

3) I don’t work in a vacuum. There are other members of Team Comic Booked out here, like Nicole Sixx and Cousin Matt, and they’re good people. I’ve covered three events now with Nicole, and I’ll likely cover more with her as time passes. Cousin Matt, it should be noted, is the Comic Booked forums guru, and a fellow gamer!

4) As awesome as it is to write about comics and comic-related events for Comic Booked, they’re not paying my bills. No, I’m picking up every odd job I can to make ends meet, and I’ve been hired as a consultant for two people who own their own businesses this past month. I’ve also been working my organizational magic for a law office, and I’m hoping to get steady office work again soon. Gotta find a steady gig again so I can afford to write, right?

5) In other writing news, I haven’t forgotten about my trilogy or my anthology, it just got pushed back a bit in the wake of everything else happening in my life. More news on this soon, I promise!

6) Captain America was a much better movie than I thought it would be. Tommy Lee Jones is awesome in it, and Chris Evans really sells Cap as more than just an overgrown boy scout. Hugo Weaving did an excellent Red Skull, even if the role was pretty two-dimensional. Very much looking forward to The Avengers, and if you haven’t seen Cap yet, stay for the awesome after-credits sequence!

7) I’m seeing Cowboys vs. Aliens today, which I’m totally hyped about. C’mon, you have James Bond and Indiana Jones in a western version of the alien invasion movie! What’s not to love?!

8) I got Jim Butcher’s new Dresden Files novel, Ghost Story, and blew through it in record time. I maintain that each Dresden book is better than the last, and this one is no exception. Wow. Very powerful story.

9) The completion of Ghost Story means I can get back to the next Percy Jackson book on my list, The Titan’s Curse. So far, it’s pretty entertaining, and I really like this series. It’s no Harry Potter, but that’s not a bad thing.

10) I’m very hungry, and I should probably get my day started. Lots to do, so it’s time to get to it! …Right after I eat.

I Don't Want To Read The Book! ...Yet

The last episode of Game of Thrones season one has aired, and damn was it good! I must confess, however, that worse than the cliffhanger final scene the show ends with is the response I get from everyone who has read the books when I bemoan the 9 month wait for season 2: "Read the books!"

I've had people trying to get me to read these books for years. In fact, name any popular book series adapted for TV or movies, and odds are good I've had at least one person trying to sell me on reading the books. (Except the Twilight series. Those who recommend books to me know I have good taste. Besides, I'm done with the whole vampires in the media thing now. Moving on...) And there's one thing I'd like to tell those of you who insist that I should read the books, that they're so much better than the show/movie, that I'm missing out on so much story by not reading them:

LAY OFF!!!

As an author (albeit unpublished, but that will change soon), I know full well the depth of storytelling that goes into a book, and how little of that actually makes it into any adaptation for stage and screen (both the big screen and the one at home). When I was younger, I read Jurassic Park before it was made into a movie and walked out of the theater wondering where 2/3 of the story went. I did the same more recently with The Dresden Files. Having read Harry Dresden's adventures and come to know the people around him in the story, I spent more time wondering why they changed things as arbitrarily as it seems they did, instead of enjoying the show for what it was.

Enjoying something for what it is. It needs to be said again, because some people let loose with both barrels when a movie or TV show doesn't include all of their favorite bits from a series. Comic book fandom is especially guilty of this whenever a big-budget movie comes out and liberties are taken with their continuity-laden comic book heroes and their sometimes cheesy, often rewritten backstory and adventures. The Harry Potter movies have taken their share of liberties with its literary source material, but each film is better than the last. Some movies leave out and/or change so much that it's almost an entirely different story (I'm looking at you, Percy Jackson and the Olympians), and that's OK, too.

Why? Because it's impossible for a movie to express everything that a book can. A book isn't limited by budget constraints, or available actors, or studio politics. A book is limited only by the talent of its writer and the imagination of its reader. OF COURSE a movie isn't going to be able to give you all the backstory and hidden thoughts that a book can. OF COURSE the big CGI effects aren't going to be as grand as what your imagination conjured. OF COURSE it's not going to be the same experience, because it's not meant to be. Unless you get out there and direct your own fan film imagining of your favorite book, you're never going to get the exact experience you'll expect from reading your favorite story. That's the wondrous power of books, and why I'll always love them over any blockbuster movie. Sometimes, though, the imagination needs a rest and wants to be spoonfed a good story.

I'll always want to explore the literary world of whatever awesome series ends up in movies or on TV. But personally, if I haven't read it already, I like to wait until after I see the adaptation before launching into the book series, especially if it has a definitive beginning, middle and end, and that end is in sight. That way, I feel like I'm getting a special behind-the-scenes look at the real story behind the story!

What are your thoughts on book adaptations for stage and screen? How do you tackle the "read the books" retort? Leave your comments below!

Judging A Book By Its Page Count

I'm always highly resistant to starting a book that has more than 400 pages to it. I like to take my time with reading, so when I see a book with 900 pages between its covers, I automatically think "This book is a massive project that will keep me from enjoying other books for MONTHS." You see, I'm not one to jump between different books while reading. I commit myself to one and see it through to the end before starting up a new one. (If it's good, that is. If the writing doesn't grab me after the first couple chapters - or scares the crap out of me, like Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves did - I don't care if it has a great ending, I'm going to put it down and move on.) A long book, to me, is worse than a long movie. I can sit still for a long movie if it's good. I don't know if I can say the same for a long book.

My beloved, however, gave me this piece of literary wisdom: "Large books aren't a big deal. There's just that much more to read!" I had to sleep on that to wrap my brain around it, but she has a point. There are some books I've read that I wanted to be longer. Much longer. The last Harry Potter book, which is sizable already, could have been longer and I would have been perfectly fine with that. Same for most of my favorite writers. And the large book I'm presently faced with, Anathem, is written by one of those favorite writers of mine, Neal Stephenson. So why am I having such a hard time starting this up?

I could give a list of reasons, all of which would be a smokescreen for the fact that simply looking at the book makes me want to pick up my Highlander prop replica katana and cut it in half. That would not be nice to do to a borrowed book, though, especially since my beloved's father loaned it to me and I'd like to stay on her family's good side. The thing is, if my imagination is so vivid that I can imagine cutting that page count by half, why can't I simply alter my mode of thinking and pretend that each page is a unit of measurement that represents my enjoyment of the book?

So I did. And let me tell you, I have no problem picking up that weighty tome now.

What's your take on the page count issue? Is it something that you take into account when choosing a book to read, or is it a non-issue to you? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

Tell the Truth Tuesday

It’s that time again! Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?

1. All of the stories for my anthology are edited! Yay! I’ve compiled them all into one document, along with an introduction, and I’m working on the formatting now.

2. My goal is to make my anthology available across the board, from Kindle to Nook and everything in-between, and I have a program to help me with the conversion process, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to accomplish this right off the bat. Anyone know Calibre well enough to give me some pointers? Also, I'm likely going to make a PDF version available for those who want to make their own dead tree edition. More on this another time.

3. Nutella ice cream is epically delicious. This needs to be mass-marketed so I can have it all summer.

4. My Star Tours review is officially my most-viewed page! If you haven’t read it yet, check it out here. And if you have, check it out again because I put up a link to some video I made of my in-line experience!

5. Colorado is a great place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. I like my SoCal weather way too much.

6. Thor was more fun than I was expecting. There are a lot of big summer movies coming out, and this one was a strong start to the season. I can’t wait to see The Avengers movie coming out next year! (On a side note, I really need to start making some good money so I can see all these movies coming out.)

7. Game of Thrones is seriously my favorite show on TV right now. I rarely watch TV, but I make it a habit to see this one every week, even inviting friends and family over to catch the show with me. There are only 3 episodes left to the first season as of this writing, but I’m sure HBO will run a marathon of all the episodes once the season wraps, and it should be on DVD by the end of the year. If you have the means, I highly recommend catching this series from the beginning.

8. My beloved’s dad let me borrow Anathem, which I was very excited about because I love Snow Crash and I’ve been looking forward to exploring more of Neal Stephenson’s writing. I’m ashamed to say that, since borrowing it last month, I’ve read a total of 5 pages of the book. The thing is MASSIVE, and I have a hard time getting through large books like that because the size always turns me off from picking it up. I feel like it’s a massive undertaking to read it, like I’m about to face down an army of a thousand pages. I suppose I just need to bite the bullet and just knock ‘em out, one page at a time.

9. I need a new day job. Badly.

10. I need a new apartment, too. Fortunately, I have a room lined up so I can get out of my current place, but I need a new apartment, STAT. A new job would help here, too.

And that about covers it for this Tell the Truth Tuesday. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to help my gorgeous girlfriend make a half-elf ranger for tonight’s D&D game….

I Surrender!

So, I'm finally on Goodreads. I know, it took me long enough, but allow me to offer an explanation as to why I was so resistant for so long.

As surprising as it may seem for a technologically savvy guy like me, it takes me damn near forever to get with the program. I was just getting on MySpace when everyone was switching to Facebook as the social network of choice. I only got on LinkedIn and Twitter last year, and those were work-related decisions. If it seems like I'm consistently behind the curve when it comes to what all the cool kids are doing online, it's because I really am.

Goodreads was no exception. I know a few authors on there whose blogs I read and whose work I respect, and I think to myself: "Self, you can't even keep track of your blog in a timely manner, how do you think you're going to have time to give reviews of all those books you've read, too?" Then I started this crusade to self-publish a small anthology of my short stories, and took a closer look at all the avenues available to me as a means of promoting my anthology. I have my loyal followers here on my blog, and on Facebook and Twitter, but I want to reach people who might not know me or my work.

Thus, I finally started listening to the people telling me I should be on Goodreads and actually made an account for myself.

My profile is still young, but it'll grow as I get to know the site better and load up on books I've read. I also look forward to upgrading it to an author account once my anthology is up on Kindle! I just hope I can keep up with this AND all the other sites I'm juggling AND do my rewrite AND...

Oh, before I forget, here's my profile so you can hunt me down and see what I'm reading and what I've read!

R. B. LeMoyne's Favorites




More of R. B.'s books »

Tell the Truth Tuesday, Belated Edition

I was busy on Tuesday, when I should have written this, so very busy with geekiness and my beloved. You'll just have to find it in your heart to forgive me as I come clean about a few things today.

1. It's been very windy here toward the beginning of the week, and I think it blew around a whole lot of crap that doesn't like me. Because of this, my allergies have convinced my nose to go on strike. Hopefully, the nasal work force will be back to work soon, and preferably before I run out of tissues.

2. I still haven't finished my rewrite. I KNOW! I hadn't finished it last year, when I said I would, and now it's 3 months into 2011 and I'm still not done with it! But to be honest (because this IS Tell the Truth Wednesday Tuesday), I think it'll be better for it. I've decided to change up the voice of my narrator, which was feeling pretty blah and you don't want blah in your YA novel. I've also decided to add back in a character I'd originally written out, because he adds a lot of tension and drama, and it kind of needs more of that in the middle part.

3. I did, however, finally FINALLY read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and I need to get the rest of them now. I'm such a sucker for Greek mythology, and this gives it a great modern twist that I really enjoy. If you heard that the movie wasn't very good (or saw it for yourself), I'm here to tell you that the book is leagues better than the film adaptation. Is it too early for a reboot? Can we call it a do-over? Or can we at least hand out copies of the book to everyone who saw the movie as a way of apology?

4. Intensely excited for the upcoming book of The Dresden Files later this year, called Ghost Story. Jim Butcher is one of my literary heroes, because it took him 9 years to sell his first Dresden story, Storm Front. (Just 3 more years to go for me! *cheers*) Harry Dresden is a fun character to read about, and Mr. Butcher's novels keep getting better and better with every book. If you're caught up on the series and can't wait to find out what happened after the last book's jaw-dropping cliffhanger, you can read the first chapter of Ghost Story here!

5. In non-book news, I bought Season One of the awesome zombie TV series The Walking Dead. Though I haven't read much of the comic books, their televised adaptation is, at the very least, exciting and engaging. It makes me wonder why it's taken them this long to realize "Hey, zombie movies are popular. Zombies are blowing up (literally and figuratively) in comics and novels. Why don't we make a zombie TV show?" If you have the means, and you're not squeamish about corpsified people shambling about over the 6(!) episode season, I highly recommend it.

6. Also, I bought that and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Six through Amazon ON MY PHONE. And the only reason I bought them is because they were more than half price. Who could resist? I know I couldn't, and though my wallet begrudgingly gave up the money, he's glad they were at such an amazing price.

7. My allergies are killing my concentration. Time to wrap this up.

8. Wow, this entry is linkalicious. So much good stuff made by good people for you to check out! And I'll be shameless and mention that, if you're tempted to buy any of the awesomeness linked above, a portion of the money made through those Amazon links goes to support your penniless writer as he works tirelessly in the literary forge to craft for you the very best YA urban fantasy novel he can. (What? I have to pay for photocopies of my manuscript somehow, don't I?)

9. I actually thought about linking to my Windows 7 phone up there in #6. I think my allergies are making me a little link-happy.

10. I'm putting together a steampunk outfit over the course of the year. This is not relevant to writing at all, but certainly fits my geeky pursuits. So there.

OK, time for me to dive into the comfort of my bed so I can sniffle myself to sleep. More goodness coming later this month, mark my words. Which are already marked. In this blog. ...Yeah, I'm done.

First Post in 2011!

What an awkward year to type! 2011. It doesn't even sound right. It doesn't roll off the tongue like 2010 did, nor does it have any great significance like our upcoming year, 2012. If the first part of it is any indication, however, this will prove to be my best year ever!

Unfortunately, I don't have a completed Book One in my hands (or hard drive) as I was hoping I would. As I'm toiling over this rewrite, I'm just not feeling it like I did previous drafts. I love my outline, I love my new characters and the changes to the old ones, but I'm having a hard time using them to fill a whole young adult book. As such, I'm going back to the drawing board (or the writer's board, so to speak) and trying to figure out what would make my little high school adventure more exciting and engaging... to me, the writer, if no one else.

Don't take that to mean that I'm resting on my laurels, loyal followers. (And where did that expression come from? Leave a comment below if you know its origins!) I'm turning my attention back to writing short stories in the hopes of provoking some breakthroughs in my trilogy, so expect new entries in The Everyday Divinities Project over the next few months. I'm also reading more, which is something I keep forgetting to do as a writer, and just started the great Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

And, of course, I'll be updating my blog more, having largely neglected it for the past couple months. I have The Hero's Journey to finish up, and the latest entry of that is half written as we speak. (Read? Write? I hate getting all meta in my blog.) I also have more Between the Lines stories to write up, as well as all new quotes and quick takes to round things out.

2011 may not sound thrilling, but good things are on the horizon this year. Stay tuned, loyal followers, to see how events unfold!

Hidden World vs. Alternate Reality

I love reading modern fantasy stories! The Dresden Files, the Harry Potter series, even the Anita Blake books offer some great escapism by allowing readers to explore our world in a new light. It's no surprise, then, that my trilogy is following in their speculative footsteps.

Hidden worlds like the ones that Harrys Dresden and Potter live in show the dangers in balancing the obligations of a secret supernatural society with those of the normal world, and offer some great tension when one world bleeds into the other. Alternate realities like the one that Anita Blake lives in, however, give us a glimpse of what the world would be like if the hidden world wasn't so hidden anymore, and the new issues that arise for the people who live in that world.

Both types of stories make for great settings. Which one is your favorite, and why?

Quick Take on the Gem Series

It's always a pleasure to see fellow writers rising up in this age of blockbuster movies and mindless TV shows. Keep your eyes peeled for The Gem Series, coming soon!

Quick Take on Clash of the Titans

Okay, this is less of a quick-take and more of a mini-rant. It's also about a movie, but since it's based on mythology, I figured you wouldn't mind if I indulged just a little.

It bothers me that kids today think that the movie Clash of the Titans owes something to the video game God of War, even after a quick internet search gives the original 1981 release date of the movie this one is based on - long before God of War was a glimmer in a developer's eye. And then, of course, there's the original Greek myth of Perseus...

Now, I'm not saying video games are bad. Far from it - I indulge in them as well, though my interest runs more to the RPGs these days. (Even in games, I love a good story!) I do believe, however, that kids should have a greater understanding of the inspiration behind them. Perseus was getting into adventures involving gods and titans long before Kratos arrived on the scene, and there's a ton of other Greek myths that are just as exciting. I suppose what I'm saying could be summed up by four simple words: Gamers, know your roots!

I know, I know, I'm due for the next stop on the Hero's Journey road, but I just had to get that off my chest.

Q&A Time, Part One

I was inspired to make a Q&A post after talking with one of my roomies. Specifically, we were talking about what question you would ask of your favorite writer, and the question posed was so out of left field that I stole it to use as a blog entry:

What do you do first thing in the morning?

My answer, it turns out, is somewhat conditional depending on what day it is. As I've stated before, I don't make a living off my writing just yet, so I wake up Monday through Friday knowing that I'll be trudging off to my day job. On those days, I generally wake up (grudgingly) to a warm shower and jump online for a handful of minutes before I make my morning commute to work. In the time I'm online, I generally make a habit of checking weather first (because SoCal isn't always sunny these days) before moving on to email, Facebook, and my favorite forums. Rarely will I make a reply at this hour, but I'll always check to see who's posted what. I'll even spare a moment to glance over the news items on my home page.

The exception to the above is Wednesday, when I generally have a chance to sleep in an extra hour before heading off to meet with my personal champion, BD, and our tight-knit group of creative minds. Without BD and her support, I may never have achieved the focus required to create the trilogy I'm currently working on.

Weekends, of course, are wildly varied depending on what happened the night before, but generally I sleep in (because I believe dreams are an important way of resolving any problems you may be facing with characters or plot) and wake to either a good book or some quality writing time with my laptop. And, of course, there's the requisite online time to check my usual morning sites, though I'm usually quicker to reply over the weekends.

And there you have it, my early morning routine... such as it is, since I'm very much not a morning person.

Do you have a question for me that you'd like answered here in my blog? Click on the comments link below and submit your query. Each question will be answered in its own post to the best of my ability. Be warned, though, I tend to be cryptic when it comes to the specific details of my trilogy. Gotta protect my property, you understand. That caveat aside, though, ask away!

Why I Don't Read As Often As I Write

A hungry lion was roaming through the jungle looking for something to eat. He came across two men. One was sitting under a tree reading a book; the other was typing away on his laptop. The lion quickly pounced on the man reading the book and devoured him.

Moral of the story: Even the king of the jungle knows that readers digest and writers cramp.

An actual entry will come this weekend, I promise!