The Self-Sufficient Writer: Lifestyle Choices

Before I go on with this series, I feel I should take a step back and discuss the topic of lifestyle choices. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines lifestyle as “the typical way of life of an individual, group, or culture.” According to Wikipedia, this includes “interests, opinions, behaviors, and behavioral orientations,” and is constrained by things… Continue reading The Self-Sufficient Writer: Lifestyle Choices

The Self-Sufficient Writer: How I Got Started

One of the best things my father ever did for me was tell me that when I graduated from college, I was on my own. No more rent money or financial support from my parents—I had to become financially independent, and I had to do it soon. I had a rather unusual college experience. I… Continue reading The Self-Sufficient Writer: How I Got Started

The Self-Sufficient Writer: Introduction

Before I graduated from college five years ago, I decided that I was going to pursue writing as a full-time career. That was my dream: to make a living telling stories that I love. It’s been a crazy ride so far, and I don’t doubt that it’s only going to get crazier. For the better… Continue reading The Self-Sufficient Writer: Introduction

Blogging vs. journal writing

So as you may have noticed, I generally blog a lot less nowadays than I did just a couple of years ago. That doesn’t mean I don’t blog at all, or that I don’t value keeping a blog, but it’s just not something I do as frequently as I used to. I’ve been wondering why… Continue reading Blogging vs. journal writing

Things I want to learn in 2015

I was going to follow up my retrospective 2014 post with another one, but instead I want to look ahead at the things I hope to learn in 2015. Of course, I’m sure that many of the things I’ll learn are things that I couldn’t have foreseen, but it helps to have some direction to… Continue reading Things I want to learn in 2015

Things I learned in 2014 (Part 1)

Last week, Kris Rusch wrote an interesting blog post reflecting on 2014 and things she observed that indie writers learned, so I thought I’d do something similar and reflect on some of the things that I learned last year about the business and the craft. Here goes! Readers of SF&F want longer books. I did… Continue reading Things I learned in 2014 (Part 1)

Upcoming plans for 2015

I think my favorite time of the year is the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s a time for reflection, of looking at what you accomplished in the previous year and setting resolutions for the next one. In that spirit, here are some of the writing and publishing things I’d like to accomplish in… Continue reading Upcoming plans for 2015

The next big dream

When I graduated from college, my goal for my writing career was this: to make a living telling stories that I love. It seemed, at the time, like an impossible dream–something so far out of my reach that I couldn’t possibly achieve it without years and years of constantly frustrated effort. Well, guess what? For… Continue reading The next big dream

How going indie is like driving a manual (plus a cover reveal)

A couple of weeks ago, I got a new (to me) car. It’s a 2005 Ford Focus / Saleen: a two-door hatchback that drives like a racing car and gets about thirty miles per gallon (WA-A-AY better than the gas guzzler I was driving before). It’s also a manual transmission, which is perhaps the biggest… Continue reading How going indie is like driving a manual (plus a cover reveal)

STRANGERS IN FLIGHT coming out soon! (and other updates)

So, I have great news! Sons of the Starfarers, Book III: Strangers in Flight will be coming out in just a couple of days. Everything is squared away for the release–all I need to do is finish approving the edits, write a teaser for the next book, and put the ebook together! This will probably… Continue reading STRANGERS IN FLIGHT coming out soon! (and other updates)