For the past three months, I’ve been working on an R&R for an agent.
In part this has been to improve my novel’s wordcount.
Tag Archives: Social media
I Made My First Ever Aesthetic! (With No Help From My Mind’s Eye Whatsoever)
I always wanted to make an aesthetic for my WIP, though I wasn’t sure that I could.
Originally, this was due to my not understanding them as an artform. I knew they were collages of evocative photos that represents one’s story, and that they’re a common way for writers to discuss and promote their work on social media, particularly Twitter.
Likes, Retweets, and Comments on Other Comments: Recapping the First #HFChitChat Live Chat
A chat is defined as “an informal conversation”. To engage in a chat is “to talk in a friendly, informal way”.
Chatting is equally applicable to friends and strangers, and is customarily performed in a relaxed and leisurely manner.
But almost all of this changes when it comes to a Twitter chat, and you are one of the chat hosts.
The Who, What, Why-the-Heck, Etc. of #HFChitChat
Me with Texas writer Sydney Young (L) and 2018 PitchWars mentor Carrie Callaghan (R) at the 2019 Historical Novel Society writers’ conference
So many creative initiatives begin life as an offhand comment, initially dismissed.
So it was with #HFChitChat—the idea of a recurring Twitter chat and online community for writers of historical fiction.
Blogging Isn’t Dead (But Someday I Will Be)
Maybe it’s morbid to talk about your inevitable death on your birthday.
Or maybe one’s birthday is an ideal time to reflect upon the natural ending of things, as well as the things you want to accomplish before your own end time, and more importantly, the barriers, both real and imaginary, that stand in your way.
My Social Media Goals & Woes
I’ve known for some time that I need to get my social media shit together.
Like many people, I’m sure, I have a love-hate relationship with social media.
It’s Easy to Be Outraged on the Internet. It’s Much Harder to Be an Upstander IRL.
Like many people all over both North America and the world, I followed the live results of the US election on November 8.
Because I don’t own a TV, I attempted to stream the coverage on my laptop. Yet, because so many North Americans and people from around the world were also watching, the stream timed out every minute or so, in need of constant refreshing.
It was in this way, along with commentary from a battery-operated radio and the #ElectionNight hashtag on Twitter, that the end result eventually – astoundingly, at least to me – became clear.
What’s New for the New Year? (or, On My Ongoing Efforts to Get Sh*t Done)
What’s new for me for 2016? In a word, not a heck of a lot.
For all that that’s actually six words.
New Year’s is my favourite time of the year. I love new beginnings and the opportunity to forecast what shape the coming year will take by setting goals to help chart its course and advancement.
Given this, I’m no stranger to New Year’s resolutions. I even have a fairly decent record of achieving them.
Necessity is the Mother of (Re)Invention – Blog Changes Ahead
Of all the various forms of social media out there, blogging is definitely my favourite.
The ability to blog is a wonderful privilege for someone like me, for I was always the kid everyone was trying to shut up.
At school, despite being a strong student, I was constantly criticized on report cards for talking too much – both in and out of turn – and in general disrupting the class with my compulsive need to share every last idea that came into my head.
Thankfully, my father, who was a huge proponent of self-expression, told my teachers he’d much rather I talk than not talk.
Yet for someone like me, blogging is the perfect pursuit, for I get to express my thoughts (and my thoughts are usually fairly detailed, which is why I do better on WordPress than Twitter), and those who care can read it while those that don’t can tune me out entirely.
And yet, I’m not really that good of a blogger.
Do You Like Stories Told in Present Tense?
Yes or no?
Personally: no.
Not even a little, really.
This isn’t to say I won’t read a book if it’s narrated in present tense. Indeed, I’ve never purposely avoided reading one for that reason, and two of my favourite YA series – Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy and Beth Revis’s Across the Universe trilogy – are written in present tense.
But it’s definitely not my favourite style or writing. I definitely need to brace myself before diving into a story told in this way. I certainly have no plans to write my own present tense story anytime soon.
A Frame Around Infinity 