Category Archives: Writing

Everyone has a favorite place to write. It might be in a crowded and noisy coffee shop, a quiet corner in the library, or a special spot in your home, or maybe a sandy beach with palm trees swaying gently in the wind. It is where we feel comfortable, where the juices flow, where the Muse sits on our shoulder and whispers in our ear.

It’s also the place where the Muse spits into our brains before abandoning us, where our fingers sit unmoving on the keyboard, and where our lives feel empty and lonely. This is where we work. We put our butts into the chair, and pour ourselves on to the page.

One of the things that differentiates working places is noise level. Do you prefer silence, or does the background hubbub of a coffee shop get you into the zone?

I’m lucky enough to have an office in my home. I can close the door, shut out the world, and get the job done. But I also move around. I can sit on the couch with the TV on in the background or on my back patio in the summer. When we had renovations done on our house, I sat in my cars back seat with the laptop resting on my knees.

This is what my office looks like. Is it always this messy? Yeah, pretty much.  Sorry for the poor quality.

What if you are not lucky enough to have an office, what can you do to get your writing space? Here are some ideas for you.

1. Take over a corner of your home. Put in a small desk and a chair, and you are set. If you have other people around, make sure they know if you are in your corner, you are working. Interruptions only in case of emergency.
2. If it helps, get a small room divider and put that up. Separating your work space from your living space can increase productivity.
3. Convert a closet into a desk area. If you have the extra closet, you can build a desk in the closet and have a work space you can close the door on.
4. Find a coffee shop that doesn’t mind you hanging around for a couple of hours. You’ll get people moving and talking all around you, so be sure you can deal with it. Find a table in the corner and set yourself up. There are some etiquette points to remember. Make sure you have a coffee or two, and maybe a small something to eat. In other words, pay your rent. If the place gets busy, be prepared to give up or share your spot. If you have been taking up space for a few hours and nursed that coffee, give the table up to paying customers.
5. The library is a great place. Everyone is a bit quieter in there, and it is pretty easy to find a corner to get the job done. The beautiful vanilla scent of old books fills the air, providing you with the rich history of published authors. It may help the Muse stick around.

The reality is that writing is a job. It’s a business that needs you to work. If you rely on that special place to get your writing done, you may be doing it wrong. If you want to get the story written, you need to write wherever and whenever you can, like a soldier that learns to sleep no matter where he or she is.

Are you in an airplane? There’s a couple of quiet hours. A passenger in a car? Every 20 minutes counts. Your job is to write. Having a nice place to do it a bonus, but not a necessity.

Here are some images for you to look at: http://www.whereiwrite.org/bova.php

What is your writing space like?

My brother-in-law and his lovely wife lost part of their family today.  Abby passed away this morning in the arms of the ones that loved her.

Abby and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but her loss has touched me in places I didn’t expect.

We’ll miss her.

This is the final cover for Blood & Water:

Calgary Launch Dates

Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sentry Box, Calgary, AB.
7:00pm – 9:00pm, Free event, all ages.
Virgina O’Dine from Bundoran Press and Hayden Trenholm will be there, plus a number of local and out-of-town authors. Goodies, verrry short readings, general shenanigans.

Friday, August 10, 2012
When Words Collide Literary Convention
A convention membership necessary.
9:00pm until interrupted by angry hotel staff.

I will be present at the convention launch, but unfortunately not at the Sentry Box one.

Bundoran Press, the publisher for the Blood & Water anthology, has released a tentative cover.

J.E. Taylor is beginning to wind down her month long Blog tour.  You can find the rest of her tour here.  I’m happy to help her promote her latest offering here, and be sure to check out the rest of her tour.   You can see her previous Guest Blog posting here.  – Gerald

Gerald was kind enough to let me pirate his blog today for a stop in my Crystal Illusions blog tour. I’ve been a lot of places on the web this month and have had quite a fun time with all the folks that have swung in at each blog.

Did you know Gerald has a manuscript that, in my humble opinion, should be available for readers to enjoy? Well he does and I’ve had the pleasure to read and comment on this. I know he’s probably shushing me as we speak, but this is one of the reasons why I blazed my own trail and built my own publishing company (www.novelconceptpublishing.com).

Fantastic stories like his should not line a drawer or a hard drive. They should be available for readers to enjoy.

I know quite a few folks who are making a run for it in the traditional publishing realm and I can’t fault them, because for those lucky enough to garnish the top shelves in the traditional publishing echelon, they get the marketing clout of the big six. But most authors fall into the mid-list or below and they struggle in this scenario. While they may have a big name label – they still have to do the majority of the legwork to market their books.

Independent publishers offer a good compromise to the big six and some even offer those coveted advances, however, most can’t afford to pay an advance, or if they do, it is minimal. They do, however, offer a bigger cut of the royalties, which is appealing, especially when the contract includes cover art, editing and formatting. If you’re looking at small presses – just beware of the ones that charge for these services – they are just a guise for vanity publishing.

I believe you as the author shouldn’t have to pay for editing, formatting or cover art and the publishing house should at least do a cursory request for reviews. However, like mid-list traditional publishing authors, you will have to take an active role in marketing the book. Your job is not done once the book hits the proverbial shelves. It isn’t like Field Of Dreams where if you build it they will come – that’s a farce and to be a success at anything requires a great deal of work.

So now that you’ve read my ramblings on the publishing industry, where do you fall in the traditional versus indie game?

Thanks for checking in and if you’re in the market for a good mystery – take a look at my latest book, Crystal Illusions.

http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Illusions-Steve-Williams-ebook/dp/B007JBWCIQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331505187&sr=8-1

Assistant D.A. Carolyn Hastings has an uncanny knack for putting away criminals. With one of the best prosecution records in recent history, her future as Manhattan’s next District Attorney looks certain. But her sixth sense for winning cases threatens to work against her when she starts seeing a string of murders through the eyes of the killer.

With suspects piling up as fast as bodies, and the motives of those closest to her questionable, Carolyn doesn’t know who to trust. When the FBI assigns Special Agent Steve Williams to the case, Carolyn discloses her deepest fear – that the man she loves may be the one responsible for the city’s latest crime spree.

The only thing Steve knows for sure is Carolyn has an inexplicable psychic connection with the killer, and all the victims have one thing in common…a striking resemblance to Carolyn Hastings.

And he knows it’s only a matter of time before this psychopath knocks on her door.

Praise for CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS

“Taylor has a strong thriller where every single character has reasonable doubt flashing like a neon sign hanging over them, and right from the beginning you are trying to guess who the killer really is. Gripping, rich and magnificent – crime whodunnits don’t get any better than this!” Author Poppet / Gemma Rice – Author of Quislings, Blindsided, Djinn and Dusan

Until next time,

Ciao.

JET

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