Blair MacGregor's Blog, page 6

To Catch A Pup

My sis and her family live on a military base, and I’m on and off the base a few times a week to help care for my nephews. The road through the base swings around a field of about five or six acres near the family housing.

As I was pulling onto that road last week, I saw a boy walking, leash in hand, toward a beautiful and tall Husky sniffing around the side of the road. Behind him, his parents were splitting up to close off escape routes. I drove a little farther down the road, stopped my ca...

StoryBundle of Indie Winners

“Ten fine bloggers and blog-sites spent a year considering almost three hundred self-published fantasy books to bring you their ten favorites. It’s hard to imagine you won’t find some gems among them.” — Mark Lawrence

This is a unique bundle to curate as its books were chosen not by me, but by reviewers who took part in the first Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off organized by Mark Lawrence. Each reviewer received over twenty-five books and a mission: Choose one. This bundle contains the books t...

No TEDx For Me

Alas, there shall be no TEDx audition for me. I was cut at the “fill out this form with your idea” stage.

Honestly, I did think I’d at least get an audition. The topic and the credentials I offered–the creative control and opportunities offered by self-publishing–seemed to fit perfectly with their theme of “Make + Believe,” and I’ve over two decades of public speaking and teaching experience. But I must have failed to make it compelling enough at the “query” stage, or perhaps mistook the oddi...

Putting “Run Away!” In Its Proper Context

This article originally appeared for patrons only at Patreon . Because they’re wonderful patrons, they support making the articles on self-defense and fight scenes available to everyone within a month of the original posting. So if you like it, thank the patrons, or consider becoming one yourself!

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Run away when you can! First rule of self-defense!

Hang around martial arts and self-defense instructors long enough, you’re bound to hear this advice given over and over. Some would tout it...

Season’s First Camp

Between swings of cold weather, there were two days that looked perfect for a quick, early-season outing–clear skies, warm temperatures, and an almost-full moon as a bonus. Shortly before the trip, the forecast called for a bit of wind and rain on the second day, but I’ve camped through Indiana summer thunderstorms (and a tornado outbreak), so I didn’t have much concern for a slight chance of a maybe-rain event in the high desert.

Compared to Indiana, Denver is pretty darn dry. Compared to De...

Writer’s First Podcast

The cool folks at Beyond the Trope invited me to chat about writing fight scenes. Today, the podcast went live. You can listen to it here.

Usually when I record stuff, I’m working from a script or, at the very least, a PowerPoint presentation. Usually when I’m answering questions and such, I’m doing so in front of a group, in person, where expressions and body language make up so much of the communication. Recording a podcast based on questions asked by folks I couldn’t see was absolutely ner...

Five Fight-Writing Tactics

This article originally appeared for patrons only at Patreon. Because they’re wonderful patrons, they support making the articles on self-defense and fight scenes available to everyone within a month of the original posting. So if you like it, thank the patrons, or consider becoming one yourself!

Before I hit the tactics, I want to share this most marvelous video by Karate Culture on the grappling techniques within traditional Okinawan kata. If you’ve read my articles for awhile,you’ll know I...

What Kurtz Taught A Teen

The fabulous writer and person Judith Tarr has been facilitating a read of Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni novels, first published in 1970s. Tarr also wrote this great post on her discovery of Kurtz’s work, and its impact on opening up her own writing directions.

Tarr just happened to choose the writer who had more influence on me, as a reader,than any other.

Kurtz boosted my writing as well in a couple remarkable ways—I’ll get to that in a little bit—but her stories did more for me as a young perso...

Little News Bits

Just a few days ago, I had the pleasure of spending an evening with Cat Rambo, marvelous writer andpresident of SFWA(who also has a Patreon you can find here).

She is an absolute delight! The kind of writer who knows her craft and her business, and is excited about sharing her knowledge and connections with others. The sort of person who is genuinely interested in others, and damned interesting in her own right. Our time together, chatting about everything from family dynamics to SFWA projec...

Pro Does Not Require Con

So it seems to be the time of year for discussing the relevance and/or purpose and/or importance of authors attending conventions.

There is this article from Sunny Moraine on the melancholy of non-con attendance. There’s this from Kameron Hurley, which opens with its own kind of sadness but ends with an urging, from the perspective of earned regard, to include those who aren’t already A Part Of in the convention experience. There’s the one from Chuck Wendig, whichacknowledges a writer’s caree...