I’m also dealing with a life that went a little mad in the last little while, but its coming back online (sort of) now.

In the mean time I thought I’d leave you with an interesting link from the New York Times that tells of E-Books outselling hardcovers.

This isn’t a sign of the apocalypse though, at least not according to ninja agent Nathan Bransford. I fully recommend going and reading his article about it here.

Until next time, keep writing everyone, and I’ll talk again soon.

I also do too much.

This is a bad combination.

I don’t know what got into me, but I finally snapped and decided to do something to enforce a deadline on myself.  I need to get this novel done and polished and I’ve been that dreadful; combination of slack and busy that means a low word count for me.

So… I spent some money. I’m going to fly to San Diego in 2011 to attend the World Fantasy Convention. It’s a literary convention geared towards agents, authors and publishers. Several writers I’ve been in touch with have gotten book deals by pitching their books at World Fantasy, and I’m hoping to do the same. At the very least, I’ll get to shake some hands and make some contacts.

But, despite all the money that has been or will be spent, I’m not going if the book isn’t done. And I mean DONE. Edited. Polished. Looked at by other, smarter people.

Everyone is motivated in different ways. Some people are motivated by cheer leading and the positive approach. I’m motivated by consequences. They don’t have to be good or bad per say, but there has to be a consequence to my actions or I’ll just sit on the couch and watch Joss Whedon shows.

So… in the interests of not missing out on an amazing trip, I’m going back to writing now.

What motivates you?

If you’d like to read a review of I am NOT a Serial Killer, I can hook you up with that too.

I’m still trucking along with my book The Downside of Being Dead. It’s undergone another big change, but it’s slowly coming together.

I’m also hoping to sort out a video camera to so I can do some vidcasts. Time shall tell whether or not I can scrape together enough cash to make that happen.

More soon.

Or, like me, you might find yourself in the middle of a MAJOR (read: complete) re-write and you might start wondering why you didn’t take up bomb disposal instead.

That’s where the writing community comes in. If you’re online* it only takes a few moments on Google to find a whole host of websites and blogs that can pick up your spirits and/or help you fix what’s wrong.

There’s another side to this though. If you want to be a writer, I consider it one of your responsibilities to get online and help others where you can. It might just be a helpful comment on their blog, or a few words of encouragement on Twitter. Or, you can make your own writing advice website <cough>…

Recently I’ve been putting a lot of effort into setting up and promoting the blogs and podcasts of two of my family members.

My father, Michael Brown, has written a novel called Finding The Field, the podcast version of which is available for free at www.findingthefield.com It’s part adventure, part spiritual journey.

My Uncle Ralph Brown has written and podcasted a very different kind of book at www.thevillagethatcould.com It’s a fable about a small village in the woods besieged by problems, and how the village gets through them. The fable is a lesson in resilience and how to apply the village’s lessons to every day life.

In the process of setting up these websites and podcasts, I’ve learned an incredible amount. When I’m finally ready to promote my own book I have no doubt that the things I’ve learned by offering help are going to be invaluable. By being part of the writing community, on this site, on Twitter and on www.findingthefield.com and www.thevillagethatcould.com I’ve improved my own chances at success immeasurably.

Even if you’re inexperienced, heck even if you’re new, your homework is to go and help someone else in the writing community, even if it’s just praise. By helping them, you’ll be helping yourself.

* If you’re not online…how are you reading this?

Things are actually pretty darn good. For one thing, I’m getting married. I got engaged to my girlfriend DJ, who’s put up with me for coming up on eight years now, last weekend. We’re also about to buy a house.

I also sold a short story Extra Virgin to an e-zine called Forever Nocturne. The zine itself is only a dollar for the PDF, and if you buy it not only do you get to hear about my virgin eating protagonist Sarah (she hangs out at comic conventions a lot) you also get a whole load of other short stories and poems all along the theme of things that go bump in the night…sometimes they don’t wear much while they’re bumping…

Ahem.

Anyway you can get Forever Nocturne’s March 2010 Edition here. It also includes the excellent short story “Campy” by Carrie Clevenger. That’s worth far more than a dollar right there.

How about an impromptu competition? Comment on this post and I’ll do a draw in 48 hours. If I draw your name out of a hat, I’ll buy you a copy.

Hopefully coming soon will be my rundown on the Neil Gaiman speaking engagement I went to, and an awesome interview with Philippa Ballantine (who is a pimp, just in case you were wondering).

You guys are pimps.

Anyway, on to the main post.

I’m not a huge proponent of chronofetishism (that’s my big word for today) but I do love New Years resolutions. At 1am on the 1st of January anything seems possible. The problem of course is at 6am on the 21st of January nothing seems possible. Getting out of bed has become a herculean task that you would write an eipc tale about… except you can’t get out of bed.

My goals this year, once I took out the odd tweak are actually the same as last year:

Write stuff.

Get it published.

Keep writing blog posts.

Be less lazy/apathetic.

These aren’t the most specific of goals I know, and perhaps they fall down a bit there, but they are the real goals I have for 2010 once the fanfare has died off and I actually consider my year ahead. If I was forced to be more specific I would have to say that the number one goal this year is to finish my book and get it out to an agent or publisher by the end of the year.

I can’t force them to accept it of course, but it wouldn’t hurt to finish the story and make it as good as it can be. So that’s what I’m doing  at the moment, writing The Downside of Being Dead. I hope to be doing more blogging/podcasting too, but the book has to come first instead of last or I’m never going to be finished. Putting the book first is going to mean making some sacrifices with my time.

I don’t agree with the idea that you have to sacrifice everything you love to be a writer. That’s a load of bollocks. You can have a family, keep fit, have a life and write. The things you need to look at cutting out of your life are the things that are actually very hard to give up.

I for one, watch far too much television.

I’m prepared to give that up to get my book done, but it has been harder than I thought. I used TV to wind down at the end of the day, to relax with my partner and to try and quiet my overactive brain. In the last month I have cut down my viewing to a few hours a week and I’m spending the time writing instead.

It’s working. I’m as happy with Downside as I’ve been with anything I’ve ever written and it’s chugging along slowly into something I think I can be proud of and all I had to do was give up blobbing out for ten to fifteen hours a week and write. I’m not saying I don’t watch anything (The Daily Show is still required viewing) but just by giving up the things I was watching out of habit I’m making more progress than I ever have before.

So the next time you think you have to sacrifice something big to be a writer, have a look at the small things you do first. Even freeing up two hours a week will give you a written book at the end of a year. Keep the big stuff in your life. Family, friends, things you love doing. All of these things will make you a better writer.

I’ve mentioned The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy on my blog before and I can again recommend it for Tee’s interview skills, insights and slightly strange sense of humour. Tee gives all of this stuff away for free, and now he’s in need of some help from the community he was a big part of starting.

That’s us.

So here’s what I want you to do. Go to the widget at the bottom of this post (when I do another post I’ll repost it there) that says Chip In or go to the Chip In page to help Tee out with the immediate costs he’s going to have to deal with. I say immediate costs because there is also going to be a trust fund set up for his daughter, but he will need help now.

Once you’ve donated, post a comment for me so I know when and how much you’ve chipped in and at the end of each month (Up until April) I’ll select someone at random and buy them one of Tee’s books from Book Depository. They ship free anywhere in the world, so feel free to enter no matter where you are.

You get an entry no matter how small an amount you donate.

It sucks when bad things like this happen, but we can all help out a little, and as a community, help out a lot.

Go to it.

****UPDATE**** If you want to keep the amount to yourself, I don’t mind at all. Just let me know you donated and I’ll put your name in the hat!

This is the first book I’ve given a 10/10 score to, because of the huge impact this one book can potentially have on your career.

I got just over 28,000 words. If I hadn’t been aiming for 50,000 then I would have called that a good month, but I fell off the writing wagon. I spent exactly one minute on self pity, then I let that go, because despite the fact that I didn’t hit my goal I still got a lot out of that month.

What’s more, as a result November and NanoWriMo are going like you wouldn’t believe. I’ve averaged 2,022 words per day and I don’t think things would be going nearly as well. Of course not all of Novembers current happiness is down to my abject failure in October. I’ve also got a few other bloggers to thank for actually getting my act together.

First up, Carrie Heim Binas has an excellent writing advice blog. If you’re doing NanoWriMo, then you owe it to yourself to go and check out Heim Binas Fiction.

You probably all know Mur Lafferty of I Should Be Writing, but if you don’t and you need a kick in the pants to inspire you, an intelligent mind to advise you or some of the best interviews available online to keep you interested in writing then I Should Be Writing is the place to go.

Want to know just how good a podcasted novel can be, then go check out JC Hutchins’ website and join the clone army. His novel 7th Son: Descent has just gone into print, and it’s beyond good. If you go to the site, you can listen to the whole thing for free. While you’re there check out Project 777 for a good cause that gets you goodies while you’re at it.

I need to get back to work, but if you’re floundering on your novel, or you just want to see some damn good blogs, go check out the authors above, you won’t be sorry.

This makes me happy.

Not just because it’s good (it’s superb), not just because he’s got a damn snazzy website (although it is pretty damn snazzy), but because any new author trying to make it in the business should take a look at JC Hutchins’ way of doing things.

Hutchin’s has taken the “give it away free first” model and run with it. On his website you can literally try the novel before you buy it, listen to a prequel written just for 7th Son (which is awesome in its own right) and fill yourself up on all the juicy details your infovorous* minds can handle.

You can do all of that at his site jchutchins.net.

This means you (and by you I mean “me too”) can whip yourself up into a state of frenzy for the story before the book even reaches the shelves. 7th Son: Descent is so good that I think it would have done well even without all of the online attention that JC Hutchins’ media savvy/general awesomeness has generated, but combining its quality** with a genuinely inspired approach to new media and internet marketing will push this book through the roof. It’s not a novel for the faint of heart, but Hutchins’ writing grabs hold of your eyeballs from the very first sentence.

You can try this novel without spending any money. You can avail yourself of delicious details on JC Hutchins’s website, and you can check out Hutchins’ other (spooky) novel Personal Effects: Dark Art while you’re at it.

What are you still doing here?***

* I have Tycho Brahe of Penny Arcade Comics to thank for the word infovore, which I’ve twisted into infovorous. Making up words is fun, even if you’re not the first to think of it…

** Yes, no matter how great your marketing/website/interview style is your book still has to be good. JC Hutchins is a very very good writer and he’s platformed the rest of his stuff from that. Bear that in mind.

*** I would consider it a personal favor if you purchased 7th Son: Descent because novels like this should be encouraged and nothing encourages writers more than being paid for their good work.