Spencer Pierson's Blog, page 2
March 3, 2017
Dabbling with Cover Art!Which do you prefer? Orang...
Dabbling with Cover Art!Which do you prefer? Orange or Blue? Both are common in various genre's and can bring out different emotions. Which would you choose for this ominous character?
March 2, 2017
I am angry!Why am I angry? I'll tell you why I'm angry,...
I am angry!
Why am I angry? I'll tell you why I'm angry, because anger is one of the many emotions you have to put into writing. Well, of course, you say, why are you telling us something that is common sense? You have to have full, burning passion in order to compose your artistic style! You cannot compose a work of art that is literature without having lived ten years in mud and ate nails! How else are you going to get the life experience necessary in order to write with unbridled passion and emotion?
What if I were to tell you, that you don't need ten years of death and doom in your life. What if I were to tell you what most authors on all those online boards you belong to tell you might not be right? Do we ALL have to go out on a fishing boat and catch a giant fish all alone?
Nope. Just as with many things in life, it is not black and white. There are fantastic works of art out there written over years, edited over decades, rewritten over and over again, and loved by readers. There are also snippets and novels, unedited and put out on blogs for fans to enjoy, and published within a month that are also loved by readers.
There is not just one path up the mountain.
I read another blog the other day where someone immediately categorized any author that put out more than two books a year as "probably terrible and not worth picking up". This is ignorance at it's finest. That would be like me saying that anyone who took longer than three months to write and publish a book was probably too slow to put words together correctly and too disassociated from their work to make it seem interesting.
Hogwash. Quality and Quantity are not mutually exclusive. There are millions of people on this planet that go to work each and every day, who may not love their job, but they do it and do it well. With speed and quality. That can happen in writing too and does all the time.
Keep your head up. Question everything you've been told about writing. Keep writing.
Spencer P.
Why am I angry? I'll tell you why I'm angry, because anger is one of the many emotions you have to put into writing. Well, of course, you say, why are you telling us something that is common sense? You have to have full, burning passion in order to compose your artistic style! You cannot compose a work of art that is literature without having lived ten years in mud and ate nails! How else are you going to get the life experience necessary in order to write with unbridled passion and emotion?
What if I were to tell you, that you don't need ten years of death and doom in your life. What if I were to tell you what most authors on all those online boards you belong to tell you might not be right? Do we ALL have to go out on a fishing boat and catch a giant fish all alone?
Nope. Just as with many things in life, it is not black and white. There are fantastic works of art out there written over years, edited over decades, rewritten over and over again, and loved by readers. There are also snippets and novels, unedited and put out on blogs for fans to enjoy, and published within a month that are also loved by readers.
There is not just one path up the mountain.
I read another blog the other day where someone immediately categorized any author that put out more than two books a year as "probably terrible and not worth picking up". This is ignorance at it's finest. That would be like me saying that anyone who took longer than three months to write and publish a book was probably too slow to put words together correctly and too disassociated from their work to make it seem interesting.
Hogwash. Quality and Quantity are not mutually exclusive. There are millions of people on this planet that go to work each and every day, who may not love their job, but they do it and do it well. With speed and quality. That can happen in writing too and does all the time.
Keep your head up. Question everything you've been told about writing. Keep writing.
Spencer P.
I am angry!Why am I angry? I'll tell you why ...
I am angry!
Why am I angry? I'll tell you why I'm angry, because anger is one of the many emotions you have to put into writing. Well, of course, you say, why are you telling us something that is common sense? You have to have full, burning passion in order to compose your artistic style! You cannot compose a work of art that is literature without having lived ten years in mud and ate nails! How else are you going to get the life experience necessary in order to write with unbridled passion and emotion?
What if I were to tell you, that you don't need ten years of death and doom in your life. What if I were to tell you what most authors on all those online boards you belong to tell you might not be right? Do we ALL have to go out on a fishing boat and catch a giant fish all alone?
Nope. Just as with many things in life, it is not black and white. There are fantastic works of art out there written over years, edited over decades, rewritten over and over again, and loved by readers. There are also snippets and novels, unedited and put out on blogs for fans to enjoy, and published within a month that are also loved by readers.
There is not just one path up the mountain.
I read another blog the other day where someone immediately categorized any author that put out more than two books a year as "probably terrible and not worth picking up". This is ignorance at it's finest. That would be like me saying that anyone who took longer than three months to write and publish a book was probably too slow to put words together correctly and too disassociated from their work to make it seem interesting.
Hogwash. Quality and Quantity are not mutually exclusive. There are millions of people on this planet that go to work each and every day, who may not love their job, but they do it and do it well. With speed and quality. That can happen in writing too and does all the time.
Keep your head up. Question everything you've been told about writing. Keep writing.
Spencer P.
Why am I angry? I'll tell you why I'm angry, because anger is one of the many emotions you have to put into writing. Well, of course, you say, why are you telling us something that is common sense? You have to have full, burning passion in order to compose your artistic style! You cannot compose a work of art that is literature without having lived ten years in mud and ate nails! How else are you going to get the life experience necessary in order to write with unbridled passion and emotion?
What if I were to tell you, that you don't need ten years of death and doom in your life. What if I were to tell you what most authors on all those online boards you belong to tell you might not be right? Do we ALL have to go out on a fishing boat and catch a giant fish all alone?
Nope. Just as with many things in life, it is not black and white. There are fantastic works of art out there written over years, edited over decades, rewritten over and over again, and loved by readers. There are also snippets and novels, unedited and put out on blogs for fans to enjoy, and published within a month that are also loved by readers.
There is not just one path up the mountain.
I read another blog the other day where someone immediately categorized any author that put out more than two books a year as "probably terrible and not worth picking up". This is ignorance at it's finest. That would be like me saying that anyone who took longer than three months to write and publish a book was probably too slow to put words together correctly and too disassociated from their work to make it seem interesting.
Hogwash. Quality and Quantity are not mutually exclusive. There are millions of people on this planet that go to work each and every day, who may not love their job, but they do it and do it well. With speed and quality. That can happen in writing too and does all the time.
Keep your head up. Question everything you've been told about writing. Keep writing.
Spencer P.
March 1, 2017
Covers! Check out these covers I did for these books! ...
Covers! Check out these covers I did for these books! I'm very proud.
Covers! Check out these covers I did for thes...
Covers! Check out these covers I did for these books! I'm very proud.
February 17, 2017
Panel: Using Disabilities in FictionFor those of you who ...
Panel: Using Disabilities in Fiction
For those of you who have read my works, I have several characters that have disabilities of one sort or another. Jessop has Down Syndrome, Professor Rievus has a form of encroaching Alzheimer, and Stitch loses a hand. What was more important for me was to include these elements as part of their character, not the defining part but as one aspect of many.
I participated in a panel in January discussing how to write characters with disabilities. It was a rewarding, interesting discussion and I hope you enjoy! I know I am still learning.
For the full story on Andy Peloquin's blog, you can go here .
February 14, 2017
Where are the blog posts!They are with us! I ...
Where are the blog posts!
They are with us! I just finished my current WIP on Friday of last week, and now am furiously editing to send out to beta readers so I can publish THIS friday! What? Are you mad? Doesn't it take fifty years and a box of frogs to publish? NO! No it does not. That is the old way of doing things, and I'm taking a stand here and now to tell you that despite what the industry experts tell you, there IS another way. You do not have to revise revise revise for months on end before you publish.
But, doesn't it have to be good enough? If you don't revise fifty times and put it in a drawer for four months, it can't possibly be good enough.
Or can it? Yes, it can. It may not be quite as good as if you waited for half a year, but it CAN be good enough for people to enjoy the fudge out of a story, and then get the next installment / novel within a month or two. I HATED waiting for years between books when I was a kid. If I saw a series that wasn't done yet, I would put it down and walk away most of the time, because I detested waiting for the extreme amount of times that traditional publishing houses made you wait. And worse, authors bought into the lie that this was supposed to be the norm.
So now, with self publishing, I have total control. I can now publish my book 10 days after finishing it if I so choose. And I do! There are a LOT of authors out there now just learning this method. We're done listening to the people who say 100 words a month is just fine and if you don't work that slowly, obviously you are not a real author and have no passion. How dare you want to make money.
Well, I do. I want to make money writing what I love to write, the stories I want to write, and the characters I want to write for you. Balance is possible! Also, making you, the READER happy, is possible too.
Enjoy!
They are with us! I just finished my current WIP on Friday of last week, and now am furiously editing to send out to beta readers so I can publish THIS friday! What? Are you mad? Doesn't it take fifty years and a box of frogs to publish? NO! No it does not. That is the old way of doing things, and I'm taking a stand here and now to tell you that despite what the industry experts tell you, there IS another way. You do not have to revise revise revise for months on end before you publish.
But, doesn't it have to be good enough? If you don't revise fifty times and put it in a drawer for four months, it can't possibly be good enough.
Or can it? Yes, it can. It may not be quite as good as if you waited for half a year, but it CAN be good enough for people to enjoy the fudge out of a story, and then get the next installment / novel within a month or two. I HATED waiting for years between books when I was a kid. If I saw a series that wasn't done yet, I would put it down and walk away most of the time, because I detested waiting for the extreme amount of times that traditional publishing houses made you wait. And worse, authors bought into the lie that this was supposed to be the norm.
So now, with self publishing, I have total control. I can now publish my book 10 days after finishing it if I so choose. And I do! There are a LOT of authors out there now just learning this method. We're done listening to the people who say 100 words a month is just fine and if you don't work that slowly, obviously you are not a real author and have no passion. How dare you want to make money.
Well, I do. I want to make money writing what I love to write, the stories I want to write, and the characters I want to write for you. Balance is possible! Also, making you, the READER happy, is possible too.
Enjoy!
February 10, 2017
Covers, Covers, and more Covers, Oh My!Hi Folks! As...
Covers, Covers, and more Covers, Oh My!
Hi Folks! As you hopefully have noticed I've upgraded my covers! Well, I've also been doing covers for other people in order to practice. Free of Charge! Its good for me and them, and gets me experience doing them.
Recently, I helped a great group of writers with their collective anthologies. They are going through a master-level work group for writing and boy, let me tell you, they are being worked hard to put out a lot of volume. The group is called Phoenix Prime.
Check out their instafreebie books here. For those of you who don't know, Instafreebie lets you have free books in exchange for your email. This lets them send out newsletters once or twice a month.
Phoenix Prime Instafreebie books.
Here are the four covers I completed for them. Spiff!
Hi Folks! As you hopefully have noticed I've upgraded my covers! Well, I've also been doing covers for other people in order to practice. Free of Charge! Its good for me and them, and gets me experience doing them.
Recently, I helped a great group of writers with their collective anthologies. They are going through a master-level work group for writing and boy, let me tell you, they are being worked hard to put out a lot of volume. The group is called Phoenix Prime.
Check out their instafreebie books here. For those of you who don't know, Instafreebie lets you have free books in exchange for your email. This lets them send out newsletters once or twice a month.
Phoenix Prime Instafreebie books.
Here are the four covers I completed for them. Spiff!
February 4, 2017
Melanie Tomlin's The Prolific Reader instafreebie books!&...
Melanie Tomlin's The Prolific Reader instafreebie books!
Welcome to The Prolific Reader instaFreebie page!All books on The Prolific Reader are available to download for free via instaFreebie. It’s the perfect way to find your new favorite author.Books are continually being added, so save this page to your bookmarks or favorites (CRTL+D if you’re using a PC) and check back often. What’s new: January 20, 2017Some changes have been made to provide you with a better user experience:With almost 300 books listed, displaying them all on one page was not feasible. Each genre now has its own page, which can be bookmarked.New books appear at the top of their genre.The date each book was added is displayed, so on subsequent visits you’ll be able to identify what’s been listed since your last visit.Links appear at the bottom of each page, to enable you to browse through the various genres or jump to a specific genre.
Welcome to The Prolific Reader instaFreebie page!All books on The Prolific Reader are available to download for free via instaFreebie. It’s the perfect way to find your new favorite author.Books are continually being added, so save this page to your bookmarks or favorites (CRTL+D if you’re using a PC) and check back often. What’s new: January 20, 2017Some changes have been made to provide you with a better user experience:With almost 300 books listed, displaying them all on one page was not feasible. Each genre now has its own page, which can be bookmarked.New books appear at the top of their genre.The date each book was added is displayed, so on subsequent visits you’ll be able to identify what’s been listed since your last visit.Links appear at the bottom of each page, to enable you to browse through the various genres or jump to a specific genre.
February 1, 2017
The Terror of Room B!Okay, this isn't really a horror ent...
The Terror of Room B!
Okay, this isn't really a horror entry. This is an entry about having gone to a critique setting put on by a local writers group! Last night was my first. I had visions of 2 people sitting in a room staring at each other through bottle-end glasses and licking their chapped lips. Perhaps even taking sips out of half-empty plastic soda bottles. However, I was pleasantly surprised. There were twelve of us in a very roomy meeting room in the local public library. Very comfortable, actually, and everyone was friendly.
Having been new, everyone took turns introducing themselves and what they wrote. The subject matter ranged from victorian era fiction, urban fantasy, mid-grade fiction (whatever that is but it sounded like contemporary fiction for perhaps a younger audience. I honestly was not brave enough to ask), and amusing fantasy. All of the entries were required to be G rated due to being in close proximity to the library proper. The format itself was simple. Put your name down on a pad of paper and next to it indicate if you would be reading for the group.
I, of course, put no next to my name. I was on a fact finding mission to determine what the group was about and how they operated. Each person had about fifteen to twenty minutes total. They could choose to use ten or fifteen of those minutes to read, but were limited by whatever time was left for the group to critique.
I found the reading to be interesting and engaging. Most of those that had written something were dedicated, and you could clearly hear their voice in their work. The variety was excellent as well from the clearly experienced to those that were learning. That was the first terror. Imagining how my work would stack up to theirs. Would it come across as dry and morose? Interesting? Boring? or the worst of the lot, amateurish? Ugh. Terrible. I could clearly see in my minds eye everyone's face wrinkling up in strained patience or masks of politeness as I read off my work.
All self inflicted fantasy.
For the most part, everyone was polite. They gave effort to giving feedback that would help the authors that read instead of dismissing them. I find that online, authors tend to practice the latter a bit too often. I've been the victem of authors that have simply said "Looks amateurish to me. You can get cheap covers for $40 bucks online!" Its like watching a slow dagger to the heart reading that kind of feedback because its not sincere but overly dismissive. No one in last nights face-to-face group did that and I was pleased.
So now I have next Tuesday to look forward to. I will take the first chapter in my current WIP there with me, and read it (after actually editing it, which I don't do until the end of my writing). I think I'm brave enough to do that, but that is the second Terror that I will have to face in Room B. Maybe I should tape my eyes shut while I read so I don't see the grimaces and eye rolls? I am being hard on myself, but ultimately that is what the true terror is. The same one that keeps authors from publishing, or sharing their work in progress and that is all from within themselves.
If you don't publish or even try, how do you ever expect to find out if you are good enough to buy.
Okay, this isn't really a horror entry. This is an entry about having gone to a critique setting put on by a local writers group! Last night was my first. I had visions of 2 people sitting in a room staring at each other through bottle-end glasses and licking their chapped lips. Perhaps even taking sips out of half-empty plastic soda bottles. However, I was pleasantly surprised. There were twelve of us in a very roomy meeting room in the local public library. Very comfortable, actually, and everyone was friendly.
Having been new, everyone took turns introducing themselves and what they wrote. The subject matter ranged from victorian era fiction, urban fantasy, mid-grade fiction (whatever that is but it sounded like contemporary fiction for perhaps a younger audience. I honestly was not brave enough to ask), and amusing fantasy. All of the entries were required to be G rated due to being in close proximity to the library proper. The format itself was simple. Put your name down on a pad of paper and next to it indicate if you would be reading for the group.
I, of course, put no next to my name. I was on a fact finding mission to determine what the group was about and how they operated. Each person had about fifteen to twenty minutes total. They could choose to use ten or fifteen of those minutes to read, but were limited by whatever time was left for the group to critique.
I found the reading to be interesting and engaging. Most of those that had written something were dedicated, and you could clearly hear their voice in their work. The variety was excellent as well from the clearly experienced to those that were learning. That was the first terror. Imagining how my work would stack up to theirs. Would it come across as dry and morose? Interesting? Boring? or the worst of the lot, amateurish? Ugh. Terrible. I could clearly see in my minds eye everyone's face wrinkling up in strained patience or masks of politeness as I read off my work.
All self inflicted fantasy.
For the most part, everyone was polite. They gave effort to giving feedback that would help the authors that read instead of dismissing them. I find that online, authors tend to practice the latter a bit too often. I've been the victem of authors that have simply said "Looks amateurish to me. You can get cheap covers for $40 bucks online!" Its like watching a slow dagger to the heart reading that kind of feedback because its not sincere but overly dismissive. No one in last nights face-to-face group did that and I was pleased.
So now I have next Tuesday to look forward to. I will take the first chapter in my current WIP there with me, and read it (after actually editing it, which I don't do until the end of my writing). I think I'm brave enough to do that, but that is the second Terror that I will have to face in Room B. Maybe I should tape my eyes shut while I read so I don't see the grimaces and eye rolls? I am being hard on myself, but ultimately that is what the true terror is. The same one that keeps authors from publishing, or sharing their work in progress and that is all from within themselves.
If you don't publish or even try, how do you ever expect to find out if you are good enough to buy.
