Writing - - Page 3

19Feb 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Author Spotlight: Susan Gourley

The authors featured on my blog range from debut authors still anxiously waiting for their release date to multi-published authors who can actually call writing their full time job. Today's guest, Susan Gourley, is one of the latter. I'm thrilled to have Susan here today to share her story and some tidbits of wisdom that can only be gleaned by having achieved some recognition in the writing world. Please give Susan a warm welcome. 1. Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming release, Keepers of Sulbreth? My latest science fiction romance novel, The Warriror and the Governor, is the second book in the Gaviron Warriors series. The planet of Gaviron was destroyed by the intelligent, arachnid-like invaders that are sweeping across the galaxy and decimating planets like a…

17Feb 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

How committed are you to building a successful writing career?

Book Reviews, Goal setting, Reading Related, Writing

Everyone says they're committed to their goals, but how many actually take regular, massive action to achieve them? How many people are actually committed enough to come home from their day jobs and work for hours on an art project, a novel, a side business? We hear about these people all the time--people who work full time and still spend 20 hours a week building their business until they're able to quit that full time job comfortably. People who put themselves through college or university by working full time and still get excellent marks. People who put their entire lives on hold and spend 80 hours a week working to release a new project or create a new business. We hear about them all the time, but the people who actually…

12Feb 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Special Author Feature: Donna Alward

Author Interviews

Today I'm really excited to announce the first in a series of special author features, Donna Alward. What makes Donna special? She--along with everyone else on the special features list--was already interviewed on my blog over two years ago. Since then, she's published several more books with multiple publishers. Now she's come back to discuss how her career has changed and what she's learned since her original interview in 2011: 1. We last spoke in February 2011. Can you talk a bit about what your writing career looked like at the time? Wow, I really need to think back. That was the year that I started a novella series with Samhain and also saw HOW A COWBOY STOLE HER HEART release, and that book went on to be nominated for…

10Feb 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Why you should blog about anything but writing

Writing

Starting a blog is a great way to build an author platform and a great way to show potential publishers and clients how serious you are about writing, but your blog shouldn't actually be about writing. I'd even go so far as to say your blog should focus on anything you're passionate about except writing. As serious writers dedicated to building a career from our craft, we spent a lot of time thinking about writing. I follow half a dozen blogs about writing and I've read some great books on the subject. I've participated in Nanowrimo and other writing challenges numerous times. Writing is at the center of my life, so it seemed natural to blog about writing. You probably feel the same way. If you sit and think about…

06Feb 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Author Spotlight: Keith Yatsuhashi

Author Interviews

Today's author happens to be one of my favourite people at Musa, and I'm thrilled to have Keith Yatsuhashi here to discuss his work. I haven't actually read his novel, Kojiki, yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to it. Please give Keith a warm welcome. 1. Can you tell us a bit about your novel, Kojiki? Sure. Kojiki is the story of an eighteen-year-old Japanese girl named Keiko Yamada. Keiko lives in the US, but when her father dies unexpectedly, he leaves her with a mysterious note, telling her to go to Japan in his place and find ‘the Gate’. He gives no other explanation—just that her camera will show her the way. Not knowing what else to do, Keiko follows her father’s last wish and soon finds herself in the…

03Feb 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Passing it forward — at every level of success

Inspirational, Writing

Have you successfully finished the first draft of a novel? Gotten your first short story, poem or even a novel published? Built a solid network of writer friends to help propel you towards success? If you've accomplished any or all of these things, you're ahead of thousands of other writers. You might not feel like a success--it's hard to feel successful in writing if you're still relying on that day job--but you've actually already achieved something or potentially several things thousands of other writers are struggling to achieve. And along the way you probably learned something that can help other writers achieve the same thing. Now, I'm not suggesting you try to help all of those writers. I'm not even suggesting that you start a blog about writing. There are already thousands…

29Jan 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Guess what? I’m a steampunk blogger

Uncategorized

I'll admit, there's no interview here today because I got distracted doing about a thousand other things: preparing for three book releases in the next three months, celebrating the release of The Caelimane Operation, editing one of my own manuscripts, starting a column on The Oak Wheel and writing guest posts for multiple other blogs. But none of those things, as exciting as they are, are what I really want to announce today. I've also been working hard to revive the blog associated with The Darkside Codex. I'll be posting a weekly column called Steampunk Musings and sharing both my thoughts on steampunk and interviews with fantastic steampunk artists. Today is also your last chance to win books from The Darkside Codex blog, so head on over and check it out! Direct links to Steampunk Musings articles: The True Appeal of Steampunk…

27Jan 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

5 Ways to support small publishers (and why you should)

Reading Related

[caption id="attachment_1961" align="alignleft" width="200"] A strampunk anthology by one of several Musa authors I represent[/caption] This month I've been talking a lot about how we can support great authors, and today I'd like to expand on that. It's not only important to support great authors, it's crucial that we support small publishers, especially if we want to become published authors ourselves. Here's the thing: there has never been a more exciting time in the history of humanity to become an author. Thanks to the digital revolution, there are more publishing options available than ever before, and the best thing for an author is options. With such a wide range of options available, authors can choose the best publishing option for them. There are dozens of small publishers online, and the Big…

22Jan 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Author Spotlight: Eric James Spannerman

Author Interviews, Reading Related

[caption id="attachment_1891" align="alignleft" width="200"] One of the books I have on tour this month[/caption] January is the month of steampunk here at The Dabbler, and Eric James Spannerman is one of the Darkside Codex authors here to school us on steampunk and how exactly one goes about writing it. Please give Eric a warm welcome and enjoy his thoughts on steampunk and writing. And don't forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of the page for a chance to win some amazing steampunk books! Can you tell us a bit about Applied Natural Magic? Applied Natural Magic is the story of Charles Woodridge, a young professor in the city of Southwatch who hopes to improve the fortunes of the poor and secure his place among the elite by improving…

20Jan 2015 by Dianna L. Gunn

Why I Interview Authors

Author Interviews

I started interviewing authors not long after I decided to blog about writing. At first most of the authors I interviewed came from MuseItUp Publishing, at the time a brand new Canadian ebook publisher. These days I work with authors from numerous small presses, mostly Musa Publishing, and interview the occasional self published author. Why I originally started interviewing authors I'll be honest: when I started interviewing authors, my intentions weren't exactly noble. I was struggling with severe depression, and creating my own content week after week became exhausting. An entire article would feel impossible, but a handful of questions sent out to an interesting author? That felt easy most of the time. Back then I participated in the Muse Online Writers Conference every year and I was part of…