R. Canepa's Blog, page 8

Checking In And A Small Roadtrip Into History

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I'm not sure how it's the middle of March already.

Took a road trip up to Virginia around the turn of the month.  Five days of driving, historic sights, friends and music on the ipods.

We took a walk through the historic section of Williamsburg, VA, though we ended up skipping most of the museums in the interest of time and money.  I try to imagine living back in that time and cannot:  doing everything ourselves, chopping wood for heat and cooking, no...

Just Found The Stories Feature

I just found the "Stories" feature here on GoodReads, so I'll be posting one story each day from a batch I wrote last month.

Stay tuned.

Some Works In Progress

I've added a new page under "Writing" that lists some of my current works-in-progress (WIP), along with their code names (that I'll also use in tags in subsequent entries).  Want to know what's up-and-coming?  That's the place to look.

Did some editing of a second rough draft of Nova this morning and am feeling very good about the story.  It came out strong in the first place, and that made me happy.  Once I can get some feedback from my advanced readers to test the water, this thing is ready ...

When The Light Is On

There are times when the world seems more alive than usual.  The smallest moment becomes a mountain.  Characters and thoughts come barreling in with no effort–whole and solid and monolithic in their glorious imperfections and realism–and it seems as if I couldn't possibly get it all down in time before it fades.

I know it will fade. I'll be at my desk and think aloud to the air, "Gee, I really wish I had something interesting to say."

I will sit and push through the quiet lull with writing and ...

On Self-Promotion

What seems to be a fundamental truth is that the people who create things aren't always the best person to spread the word about it.  There's a fair amount of tooting-one's-own-horn involved.  I'm trying to get better at it, and to remind myself that it is necessary. And not necessarily evil.

At the risk of sounding like every productivity coach / marketer / SEO-whatever / social media-whatever / self-help author out there, I'm going to blog about it here anyways.

I've begun asking myself...

Initial Book Release and Activity

Norton's Ghost is finally out in the wild.

The past weeks have seen a flurry of activity.  The book now shows up with proper data on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. Hopefully Powells.com will be catching up soon. Also: I apologize for F5′ing said servers.

I received a batch of local copies and mailed out the first wave (pictures below).  People are now getting the book in their hands, reading, and giving feedback on it.  This makes me happy.

Got myself (finally!) listed on GoodReads.com, got ...

Norton's Ghost on GoodReads.com; Giveaway

Finally have my author page set up on GoodReads.com.  I've meant to get it set up for my own use for ages now (my book list is already imported), and the release of Norton's Ghost was the perfect kick in the butt to get registered.

There's also a chance to win one of give free copies that I'm giving away via the site.  The entry period runs until February 26th.

Don't have a copy?  Now's your chance to get one for free.

Code Name: Hammers

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"Hammers" is the code name I've given to a piano project I've been lugging around in my head since around 1999 or so.  All the pieces are in various states of done-ness.  It's time to change that.

Began recording tonight on a piece that's written completely.  That's always nice.

The way I see this project shaping up is a lot of piano + cello duets.  I love both of the instruments and so it only seems right to pair them up.  Some of these pieces might end up b...

The Secret To Productivity Is In The Code Names

Now that Norton's Ghost is out, I feel free to turn my attention to other projects.  In this case, music.

Norton's Ghost sat around in various stages of work after I finished it, and so too has the music I've written over the years.  It's time to change that.

The secret to productivity, I think, is all in the code names.  I'll be blogging about my various projects here under their respective code names.  This will hopefully allow me to keep track of my progress and perhaps interest people in...

The Great Physical/Electronic Media Disparity

By now, many people–people both smarter than I am and in better positions to speak on it–have made clear their thoughts and feelings regarding the Amazon-Macmillan tug-of-war.  As I checked in with the world before I sat down to write, I see that Macmillan titles are returning to Amazon now (at least the dead-tree versions).

What concerns me most at this point is the stance of the publishers: "printing and shipping costs are only a fraction of a book's production costs," they say.

I can agree w...