If you’d like to find me on Twitter I’m @ajackwriting. Yes, that’s a sonic screwdriver.

@elizabethscraig Elizabeth tweets writing links all day every day, grabbing the best advice articles from around the web and sharing them. If you follow her stream I guarantee you’ll learn something useful.

@chuckwendig Chuck Wendig is some kind of beard powered force of nature. I’ve already pimped his website www.terribleminds.com and his many, many books on writing. It’s also worth following Chuck on Twitter if only for the fact that he’s a really funny dude and his tweets are entertaining.

@fantasyfaction If you write genre fiction you can’t go past Fantasy Faction either as a website or a Twitter stream. Useful advice, top notch reviews and interesting links. Well worth a follow.

@mightymur Mur Lafferty, creator of I Should Be Writing and possibly the saviour of the universe, or at least the destroyer of Matt Wallace which amounts to more or less the same thing. Speaking of which…

@mattfnwallace Matt’s tweet stream is practically an Eldritch Abomination in and of itself. If swearing, violence or pure unbiased hatred of all life bothers you then this might not be the stream for you…on the other hand if you can cope with all that then Matt is an entertaining tweeter.

@scalzi John Scalzi, author, president of SFWA and human blog hybrid. Tweets useful advice, links to important blogs and updates.

@lilithsaintcrow Lilith Saintcrow is both absolutely hilarious and an excellent writer. She tweets pretty much constantly and it’s all good stuff.

@sfwa Science Fiction Writers Of America links, warning and news pertinent to genre writers.

@howardtayler Creator/cartoonist of Schlock Mercenary and one of the best writers anywhere for anything (although I doubt he’d believe me if I told him that). Living proof that excellent storytelling isn’t confined to novel format.

@cstross Charles Stross author of The Laundry series of supernatural thrillers (and lots of sci fi). Follow him for the same reason I do. He has a ridiculously enormou9s brain and you hope to absorb some of his intelligence through osmosis.

@rsullivan9597 Robin Sullivan heads up Ridan Publishing and has great advice coming out of her ears. In the same mention I also recommend following Michael J Sullivan at @author_sullivan

@kristadb1 Prolific writer of doom and dispenser of both excellent advice and excellent snark.

@Julie_Butcher because she’s awesome. That is all.

@skyladawn Skyla Dawn Cameron Author, blogger and acquiring editor. Also the person who can help stop you from making a complete dick of yourself if you follow her advice.

@dinajames Author of the superb All Wounds (as original a take on Urban Fantasy I’ve seen in a long time) and general dispenser of evil. Knows a lot about guns and helps me out by telling me things about weaponry I have no idea about.

Who would you recommend I follow on Twitter? Who do you keep in your Twitter feed (as opposed to your basement)?

Let me know in the comments

I am yet to be eaten by a bear. Some consider this inevitable and I am glad to have been able to prove them wrong again. That said, no promises for February.

Frankly, I understand if you want to side with the bear on this one.

Writing is going reasonably well, I’m completely re-cutting and redrafting my novel Unquiet Nights to deal with its pacing issues. They weren’t bad, but they did slow things down in critical places. I hope (and I have hoped in vain before) that I’ll be finished by March, but we’ll see.

I plan on entering the Fantasy Faction short story contest and I think you should too.  It’s got very favorable terms and there’s no entry charge. However, and this is perhaps the most important thing, you get to keep the rights to your story.

That is awesome.

I’m trying to blog every weekday. While I don’t want to promise I will always be able to do that, it’s been good for me to put my thoughts on writing down each day. The site is getting correspondingly more hits and I’m glad to be talking to so many people.

On the health front I’ve lost twelve kilos since November and I intend to keep going. It’s nice to feel like myself again.

By the way, I’m getting married in two weeks! That’s right on February 4th my long-suffering fiancée and I are getting hitched. She’s been an incredible supporter of my writing and she’s been an invaluable editor of my stuff. That I can even write a coherent sentence is often down to her.

Things are good.

 On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me… two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me… three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me… seven spines a-hurting, six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the eight day of Christmas my true love gave to me… eight blogs a-pimping, seven spines a-hurting, six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me…nine Kindles humming, eight blogs a-pimping, seven spines a-hurting, six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… ten fingers typing, nine Kindles humming, eight blogs a-pimping, seven spines a-hurting, six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me… eleven writers sobbing, ten fingers typing, nine Kindles humming, eight blogs a-pimping, seven spines a-hurting, six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

 On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… twelve endless edits,  eleven writers sobbing, ten fingers typing, nine Kindles humming, eight blogs a-pimping, seven spines a-hurting, six plots a-brewing, five misspelled words, four angry birds, three fancy pens, two unfinished novels and a big bottle of whiskey.

Clearly Chuck is a busy man, but he took some time away from disposing of diapers full of mustard colored poo to talk to me.  

Andrew: First off, thanks for doing this interview with me. I know you’re super busy with work and the birth of your first child. How’s fatherhood treating you?

Chuck: NO SLEEP SEND BACON AND A HELPER ROBOT.

No, okay, seriously, it’s pretty great, thanks for asking. I mean, sure, we must submit our schedules first to the Tiny Pink Dictator that runs our house (so that he may poop on them), but it’s a pretty neat time of my life.

A: Other than sleep, what are you working on at the moment?

C: I just finished a novel the other idea. Around 70k, kind of a YA-ish not-exactly-dystopian thing. Codename: POPCORN. Other than that, I’m noodling doing a novella for self-pub, and planning a sequel to my novel, BLACKBIRDS.

A: You’ve recently released a book of short fiction (Irregular Creatures) and a writing advice guide (Confessions Of A Freelance Penmonkey), how does the process of self publishing compare to legacy publishing?

C: As a control freak, self-publishing offers some very cool advantages. As a lazy piece-of-shit, self-publishing offers some truly irritating eye-pokes. The key difference is that – and, duh, it’s right there in the name – self-publishing means you’re the publisher, so it’s all on you. Marketing, cover design, editing, book design, and so forth. It’s tricky because we get into this game to write good stories, and yes, that comes part and parcel with an unholy host of other invisible responsibilities. But self-pub turns up the dial on those responsibilities.

A: For new writers, would you recommend self publishing?

C: Nope. One of the issues of self-publishing is that you don’t go through the gauntlet. By gauntlet I don’t necessarily mean the legacy publishing situation, though that ecosystem can be a part of it. You run the gauntlet of readers, editors, other writers, in order to determine if this book is the one. And for new writers, it’s almost never the one. That first book is often known as a “junk novel” or a “trunk novel” for a reason: it’s pretty much a piece of shit out of the gate. You’ve gotta write another, and another beyond that. I wrote five or six full novels (and approximately 37,000 unfinished ones) before getting an agent for BLACKBIRDS.

A: What do you think the biggest problem is for new writers (barring drinking problems, insanity and rabid wolverines)?

C: Dang, that’s a toughie. We already covered the drinking, the crazy, and the wolverines? Huh.

The biggest problem might be the same as it always was: thinking you’re special. It sounds harsh and terrible to want to strip that away from people—and, to be honest, some writers really are secretly special, or will become as such—but for the most part, you gotta realize that the world is home to approximately one bajillion other writers. You’re not special, so don’t act like you are. Don’t act entitled. Don’t act deserving. Act humble in the fact of that. Don’t run with scissors. Play well with others. Don’t be a dick. And so on. 

A: Where did the phrase “Beard The Fuck On” come from?

C: I submit to you: the origin of Beard The Fuck On.

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/04/21/search-term-bingo-dont-give-a-shit/

A: Less of a question, more of a statement: There should totally be a “Beard The Fuck On” t-shirt.

C: In this, we find accord. 

A: What got you started in writing?

C: I needed money for my coffee and exotic German porn habit.

*hold for applause*

I don’t really know. I always wrote as a kid. I did those “Young Author” programs in school. I made my own books using that old Print Shop program (so I could, y’know, design my own covers). Actually, if I recall, I used the inferior facsimile to Print Shop, which was Print Master or Print Meister or Print Miser or something.

A: Is there anything you know now you wish you’d known back when embarked on a writing career?

C: Eh? Ennnh. I dunno. That smells like regret, and I don’t truck with regret. I am where I am because of the choices I made—mistakes included—and I’m happy where I am. If anything, I just wish I knew for sure that nothing, nooooothing, in this industry moves fast. It’s glacial. It’s a snail crawling up a down escalator. Patience is key. And I don’t have patience. Thankfully I possess its sinister cousin, stubbornness. 

A: I really enjoyed Irregular Creatures, is there any chance of another short story collection from you?

C: There is such a chance. I’d like to do a “sequel” of sorts, which would feature a second Cat-Bird story and again showcase a series of tales revealing many weird creatures. You heard it here first, if I ever publish it, I will call it CRASS MENAGERIE. 

A: You’re signed with Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency for your upcoming novel Double Dead, what process did you go through getting Double Dead to publication.

C: Correction: I signed with Stacia to represent my novel, BLACKBIRDS. The novel DOUBLE DEAD is with Abaddon, and as such, is considered a work-for-hire novel (i.e. freelance) as a part of their zombie-themed TOMES OF THE DEAD series. They invited me to pitch to them, and I did, and apparently the pitch did not suck.

* Editors note: Andrew did not fact check. Andrew deserves the lash.

A: Can you tell me a little about

C: I am sworn to secrecy.

Okay, not really.

I’ll say only this: when Miriam Black touches you, she can see how and when you’re going to die. This gives her the chance, in theory, to solve murders before they happen – but she discovers that fate is far more unyielding than suspected, and she soon grows to believe she cannot change the deaths she sees. She learns differently, over time, and learns that the sacrifices necessary to turn fate on its ear are bigger than expected. In the meantime, she exists as a kind of human vulture: instead of attempting to sway fate’s course she steps into it’s path, becoming a carrion bird (figuratively) who lurks at the deaths she knows are coming to steal from the dead.      

A: How long did it take you to write Double Dead?

Four months. Though, that’s just the first draft. I have an edit now which will necessitate a second draft. Fingers crossed, though, the edit looks pretty solid. From years of freelancing I’ve learned to, above all else, write clean content. 

A: You’ve had significant experience writing for role playing games, particularly the Hunter series for White Wolf Games (which was the last RPG I played, and I still love for the background material). How did you start writing for White Wolf?

I started writing for the first HUNTER iteration (THE RECKONING), and later ended up developing and writing for the second iteration (THE VIGIL). 

A: Are you doing any RPG work at the moment?

C: I am, at that. Just got some development work from White Wolf on a pretty cool… well, I can’t say anymore, only that it leads to something fairly big and fairly cool, something that remains as-yet-unannounced. So, keep your grapes peeled.

A: Amy Houser did the covers of Irregular Creatures and Confessions Of A Freelance Penmonkey for you. What process did you go through with her to create the covers? 

C: I give her a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms, I blindfold her, and then I drop her off in the middle of a forest somewhere. Ten days later she returns with the cover art carved into her chest with a piece of sharpened bark.

No, I dunno, it’s probably a pretty boring process. I say, “Here’s the book, and I have a few ideas, but you’re smarter than me about ‘art stuff,’ and so show me some sketches.” And then she shows me some sketches and I squee in my pants and pick one and we talk about changes and then next thing I know, a final colorful draft ends up in my inbox and I swoon and gibber and try to tell the world how talented she is.

Thanks again to Chuck for doing this interview for me. If you’d like more of Chuck (and really, who wouldn’t?) you can find him at www.terribleminds.com If you’d like to read my reviews of his work, you can find Irregular Creatures here and Confessions Of A Freelance Penmonkey here.

We are all OK here, I’ll send more updates when I can.

It has destroyed much of our city.

Power and water are out for most of the city; I’m posting this from my phone.

I was very lucky. I had one very bad moment when I thought my fiancé was trapped in a collapsed building but she was safe and sound.

I hid under my desk, which saved me from the heavy shelves that bucked their mountings and fell down. Our house is more or less ok. Some big cracks and it looks like a god picked it up and shook it but in the end it’s just stuff that’s been damaged, everything of real importance to me escaped with very minor injuries.

My heart goes out to everyone who has lost loved ones or is still undergoing the terrifying long wait while you track down a family member.

Be good to the ones you love, hold them and tell them that you love them. When the earth moves there’s nothing to hold on to but the connections you make with other people.

I’ll post again when I can. Thank you for reading.

- Andrew

Writing is like getting in/staying in shape. If you write today, writing tomorrow will be slightly easier, and it will also be slightly better. The longer you go without writing, the harder it will be to restart.

Conversely, if you force yourself to write twelve hours a day, you’re going to get burned out. Start slow, build yourself up until you’re happy with your daily word count.*

* Please consult your writing guru before starting a new program.

The cure for apathy is easy. Sit down and write one word. After that one word, others flow. I’ve used that before many times.

Burnout is a nastier thing, and can require everything from a complete life reorganization to getting counselling for depression. Fortunately I’m not that far gone yet, but I’m worried enough to post what I’m doing here. It’s also been awhile since I’ve posted.

Right now I’m conducting a kind of triage on my life. There’s not enough life to get everything done, so I’m having to prioritise my time. I’ve had to consider what writing means to me, and given the massively slim chance of making a living as an author, how intensely I’m prepared to follow my dream of doing this full time.

The short answer is this: It’s important enough that I’m prepared to give up the non essential but enjoyable things in life so I can write. I’m not giving up my friends and family, or eating and sleeping. I’m not quitting my job (much as I would like too). I can give up some non essential things though, like spending time on the sofa watching TV, and mucking about online.

I have a long history of overdoing things. Of taking on so many projects that I can’t possibly finish any of them, let alone all of them. This is the other side of what I’m going to have to give up to write and this is a much harder thing to do. I’m banning myself from taking on anything new from here on out. With work, training (for fighting), university and a job I already have far too much on my plate. So I’m having to kick my addiction to new projects to get this book finished.

What have you given up so you can write? Let me know in the comments.

That’s the only word of this post I’ve typed in the last hour. I managed to hit an all time low on the motivation scale*. I have so very many things to do and I’m so overwhelmed by it all that I haven’t done anything.

So, to get over it I’m trying something new; getting organized.

I am making a list (I won’t check it twice) of things I need to do, ranked in priority from one  to three. The stuff at the top of the list is the stuff that will endanger my health/sanity/personal hygiene if I don’t do it.

Things at this level include: sleeping, bathing, eating, going to work, keeping the house habitable and wearing pants.

Next up is the stuff I really want to do. I won’t actually die, but I might feel like it. There are a surprising number of things on this list that I haven’t been doing at all.

Things at level two include (but are not limited to): Writing, physical training, reading, spending time with my partner, writing the articles that I promised people ages ago, spending time with my family and friends and wearing pants.

Finally are the little things that I kind of want to do. I seem to spend a lot of time doing this stuff. Half the time I don’t even want to, I just do these things out of apathy, laziness or overtiredness.

Level three has all the crap in it: Watching TV, reading magazines I don’t even like, mindlessly surfing the net, watching TV, playing computer games.

Of course everyone needs a little level three mindlessness as downtime, and there’s nothing wrong with spending some of your spare time just playing on the internet. My problem is that the level three stuff is taking place instead of everything else.

My new plan** is to throw out as much of the level three stuff for the rest of the year that I can. I’m still going to be taking plenty of planned downtime, but the key to it will be setting myself  time to just do whatever and sticking to it, instead of wasting entire days doing nothing because I feel burned out.

The point of all this is this: If you’re feeling burned out, or you simply don’t want to do anything, try this list thing out, then throw out all the level three stuff you don’t need for a week. Plan downtime where you give yourself permission to let it all hang out, but try not to waste anytime on things that aren’t helping you in any way.

This has been a bit of a rant, but I’d be keen to know what you do when apathy takes over?

* 10 is where you will, in fact, take over the world. 1 is where only physical reflex keeps you breathing.

** The old plan involved an elaborate ruse.