There are few classes of words with a worse rep than adverbs. The title of this post, taken from George Meredith’s The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, is pretty much the gold standard of bad adverb use. Editors hate them; many writers eschew them. I, however, will stand up in their defense.
Posted in Writing | Tagged adverb, adverbs, creative writing, novel writing, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 3 Comments »
This past weekend, I gave myself some time off to enjoy “Borderlands 2” on Xbox, but that doesn’t mean I did nothing, writing-wise. I did a lot, actually…
Friday I finished typesetting the interior of FC:I and started working with the printer. There were two printers in contention for the job: Lulu and CreateSpace. I chose the latter. Here’s why.
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged books, creative writing, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, novel writing, self-publishing, The Ploughman Chronicles, Unraveling Time, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 4 Comments »
Note: This post originally discussed stoneware versus porcelain. I’ve since learned that the “stoneware” I have been purchasing for decades is really “earthenware,” despite what it said on the box. Earthenware and stoneware have some qualities in common–like weight–but stoneware (real stoneware) is stronger and more durable. I’ve updated this post to accurately reflect what it was I owned. Be warned, though: a lot of the “stoneware” dinnerware sets you’ll find out there are probably just earthenware. With that in mind, here’s the updated post:
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While I am stuck in the spin-cycle that is “The Typesetting of FC:I“, let me share the results of a test I have been conducting.
A year and a half ago I asked the question: Which is better/more durable, porcelain or earthenware?
I got many responses, I read many posts/articles, but nothing… nothing …gave me a definitive answer. I mean, you’d think I was asking about the relative air speed of swallows or something.
But then I had a stroke of luck. I had my 20th year anniversary at the place where I work (yes, Virginia, some people still work at the same company for decades), which entitled me to a “thank you” gift. Now in the past, these have been cheesy tie-pins or cheap wireless weather stations, but this time, they actually had something I could use: porcelain dinnerware.
I leapt at the chance, and so, a year ago, we began our experiment. Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Low Tech | Tagged cost-cutting, dinnerware, earthenware vs porcelain, Food, Gibson Everyday, porcelain, stoneware | 5 Comments »
The One Lovely Blog Award has come my way. It’s another way for bloggers to show appreciation and bring notice to blogs that we find intriguing.
Sarah over at Musings of a Steampunk—one of my favorite blogs to follow—has nominated this blog for the award! Thanks, Sarah! It’s truly a pleasure to know that this blog reaches and touches other writers and readers.
The Rules for nominees are simple:
- Copy and paste the award logo onto a post.
- Thank and link back to the person who nominated you.
- List seven things about yourself.
- Nominate five other blogs.
See? Easy peasy.
My nominees (in no particular order) are:
- Mike and Robert vs. the Movies (irreverent, insightful movie guys)
- Untitled*United (movies, books, writing, everything)
- The Wildflower Scout (I love this blog! Beautiful photos, great hiking)
- Paige Nolley (enthusiastic writer/blogger)
- Jumping from Cliffs (passionate novelist)
My 7 things:
- I worked as a pressman in a small newspaper, did everything from paste-up to delivery, and nearly earned the nickname “Lefty”.
- Every year I try brie cheese to see if it still tastes awful to me (20 yrs so far, still “ick”)
- I’ve been reading Proust for five years; I can only handle the prose for 2 weeks at a time, but when I pick it back up, it’s like I never put it down.
- I’m related to Eleanor of Aquitaine.
- I can only write humorous non-fiction. Humorous fiction (to date) is beyond my capabilities.
- I can’t draw worth spit.
- I have a thing for old British cars.
k
Posted in Culture | Tagged blogging, creative writing, One Lovely Blog Award | 7 Comments »
When I decided to publish the new FC books myself, I rather knew what I was getting into. Publishers, for all their flaws, do provide a lot for the writer. I’ve seen it, experienced it, and though I bitched about a lot of it at the time, I surely do miss it now.
Some of the services a publisher provides that are now on my plate: editing, copy-editing, fact-checking, cover art, and typesetting. (And this doesn’t even get into the marketing/distribution side of things.)
It’s that last one, though…typesetting. It’s a bloody mare’s nest of minutia and details. But its importance cannot be understated. I’ve done this before, but it’s always a surprise. Continue Reading »
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged creative writing, e-readers, ebooks, editing, Fallen Cloud Saga, Kindle, novel writing, publishing, self-publishing, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 1 Comment »
It fades, Summer does. It does not leave in a rush or slip away overnight. It fades, its brilliance seeping into the ground, the sky, the air.
At first, it cedes the night, relenting in the early hours, allowing the world at last to breathe and with a cooling sigh to sleep, finally, sleep.
Then the evenings fade. The sun, now tired from its summer’s work, runs low across the sky and gently slides toward twilight, returning hours it once commanded back to moon and stars.
Today, the morning faded, too, as gentle fog hid the buildingtops and seagulls mewed above, unseen. The streets were mist, the sky a blanket, and every streetlamp was a halo-shrouded gem.
The afternoon now is Summer’s only realm, but not for long; its threats are all worn out, its bark now has no bite. Flanked on either side by dewy morning and the star-shot dusk, it has no time to muster strength and soon will leave the field. The gold of summer grass will green, the green of summer leaves will rust and blaze, and Autumn, soon, will come into her own.
Summer’s nearly done. It’s fading as we speak.
k
Posted in Culture, Seattle | Tagged autumn, autumnal equinox, changing seasons, dewy morning, fog, last days of summer, nature, seasons, Seattle, summer, summer grass, weather | 2 Comments »
Counting words used to be important. It also used to be arcane.
As the physically printed word goes slowly out of style, the importance of word count diminishes. When I worked as a head pressman at a small newspaper, word count was king because word count translated to column inches, and you only had so many of those in each issue. Reporters typed up their story, handed it to the typesetter who typed it into a machine the size of a van. Long strips of paper came out the far side which we then painstakingly—and absolutely literally—cut and pasted onto the page mock-up. Word count gave us an idea of how much space each article would use. But it was not a literal count of the words.
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged Beneath a Wounded Sky, creative writing, ebooks, Fallen Cloud Saga, Kindle, novel writing, publishing, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 1 Comment »
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 