Roderick T. Macdonald's Blog, page 10
December 19, 2023
The Writing Life: Rushing to the next roadblock
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! And here we all are, rushing toward a day that passes all too quickly, months of anticipation dissipating in a confetti of bright shards, leaving us bloated and queasy. I love Christmas, by the way, though it was an eternal disappointment to the child I was, never receiving …
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December 12, 2023
Percentages return with find and replace minus one as their companion
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! What a pithy title, no? No. But it is a useful reduction of my recent activity, aside from decorating trees. I am now 64.7% of the way through the text of this ‘final’ editing pass. 67.8% by a different criterion. No graphic representation, as is my wont. I …
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December 5, 2023
The Writing Life: Talking yourself into progress
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Last week’s motivational chat to myself that I shared with you, worked. This blog, unknown to multitudes, ignored by many, read by the glorious few, serves a hugely worthwhile purpose in holding me to account when I have grown too lazy. Procrastination and delay can be addressed here …
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November 28, 2023
The Writing Life: Acknowledging the slowdown
Hello my friends and the occasional relative! Today is a mea culpa kind of day. I’ve done some more tinkering, but have not significantly advanced in my last pass over the new novel. I’m stuck at the reworking of a conversation: I thought I had a correct angle for the insertion of needed extras, but …
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November 21, 2023
Story Fragment #6: Tell you a Tale
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! It is story time once again. My series of old ideas rolls on. #1 here, #2 here, # 3 here, # 4 here and #5 here. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I will share I …
November 13, 2023
Rambling thoughts on travel
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! A quick word about travel. In fantasy novels travel is a hard one to manage. As a writer you find yourself researching how fast and how far someone can walk, how far a horse can carry a character, and how they were used historically (hint: galloping for long …
November 7, 2023
Story Fragments #5: The Salt Miner’s Tale
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! My series of old ideas rolls on. #1 here, #2 here. # 3 and #4 I will not link today, maybe later. You can find them here, easily enough. These are scraps of writing I have mostly probably discarded as the basis for a larger story (one I …
October 31, 2023
Happy Hallowe’en!
Hello my friends and the occasional relative! Enjoy this day celebrating all things otherworldly (a great day for fantasy readers and writers, if I say so myself) secure in the knowledge that the saints will all be marching in tomorrow to celebrate the bond between human and divine. (Reminds me of a Dio lyric…) I’m …
October 28, 2023
Oh yeah, there’s a sale
A quick note to inform my friends and the occasional relative that The Thief and The Demon is on a happy Hallowe’en sale until October 30th in the UK and US. The ebook version is on sale, right at this very moment! I really should have The Killer and The Dead on sale too, but …
October 24, 2023
Story Fragment #4: The Viper
Hello, my friends and the occasional relative! Inspired by my recent delving into archives I sat down on 10/18/23 at approximately 8pm and decided to write two words and see where they went. I declared it done in 30 minutes. Then went back and messed with it and declared an extended version done after 2 …
