K.C. Burn's Blog, page 25

The Vocabulary-Defiler!

Today's entry is about the Vocabulary-Defiler – names have been changed to protect the innocent! Now, I've said before – I have a pretty decent vocabulary. I rarely use it when I'm speaking, however. I can spell all kinds of big, pretty words, and I can use them correctly in a sentence, but I'm not always sure how to pronounce them. So, to avoid looking like an idiot, I won't say them aloud. Not everyone has similar restraint. Many years ago, the Vocabulary-Defiler and I worked...

Secret Words, Lovecraft & Murder… oh, my!

Okay, so we're in my personal celebration of vocabulary. Anyone ever flip through the dictionary just to find words that they don't know or that sound weird? I do. I have. I thought I could subscribe to m-w.com or dictionary.com's word of the day emails to get my fix. Occasionally, it worked, but I found that I usually knew what most of the words they sent meant, so after a while it seemed like a useless exercise.

Now, if I had the guts at the evil day job to use the word of the day...

It's National Vocabulary Month!

Today, I'm kicking off my own personal celebration – vocabulary month. I lied about the "national" bit – but hey, International Talk Like a Pirate Day had to start somewhere! And I PROMISE it won't be as boring as it sounds.

As a writer, words are my business. I think about words. A lot. More than most people, maybe. Words are tools, sure, but like many other tools, they can be functional, they can be used to create, and they can be dangerous in the wrong hands (mouth?). Words can be...

The Ironic Side of Spam

So.  Spam.  Everyone hates it, and for the most part, it's pernicious and malicious.  I use gmail, and gmail is pretty darn good at catching spam (and a few not-spam, but you can't expect perfection, right?)  But, spam also has its humourous side.

I have what we'll call a "business" email address, which is where people interested in my book (hopefully soon to be plural!) can contact me.  It's this email that I use for commenting on blogs, joining yahoo groups, etc., etc.  I also have a...

Contest & Blog at Naughty Author Chicks – Guilty Pleasures

Come visit me today at Naughty Author Chicks!

I'm guest blogging about guilty pleasures and giving away a copy of my new release, as well as a gift certificate to Starbucks.

Come and play with the Naughty Author Chicks!

Review – Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy – 2010 DIK Reading Challenge

Although my reviews may make it seem like I'm a bit of a one-trick pony (in the completely non-sexual, non-fetish sense), I've got other interests! With that in mind, I'm going to review Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

This is one of my favourite books of all time – I might… ahem… be a geeky fan girl. Despite having...

My first introduction to a gay fictional character

I was a teenager in the 80's. With influences like Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Erasure (who, IMHO, give the BEST concerts) and the public outing of a few celebrities, I was certainly aware of gay people. Not to trivialize how courageous it is to come out (and it saddens me that it should ever be an ordeal) but I think it's probably easier to do so now than it was 15, 20, 30 years ago. So, to the best of my knowledge at the time, I did not know any gay people personally – I have since...

Writing Rituals (or Tales of C**ks and Balls)

I have several writing rituals that help me stay focused, or stimulate my creativity, or write better — at least, I hope I'm continuing to improve!

Sunlight is absolutely disastrous to my creativity. Not for the reason you'd think, though. I find I can concentrate better if I'm not aware of the passage of time. I'm a bit of a vampire at the best of times, and I was happiest writing in my old office in our basement apartment. It had NO windows. It was like a cave!

So, naturally, we moved...

Bring Back Torchwood!

As a Canadian, I grew up watching Doctor Who. Now, Doctor Who is not nearly so iconic in Canada as in the UK, but there's definitely a strong following. When the BBC decided to start again with Christopher Eccleston, I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled when they brought David Tennant in to replace Christopher Eccleston (I'm reserving judgment on the new Doctor). But one of the all time greatest characters emerged from this reinvention of Doctor Who — Captain Jack Harkness. Capt...

How I Became a Writer

I was recently asked if I took courses to become a writer. I had to answer no. Sure, I've taken courses to learn different things. I fully expect to take more courses throughout my life to do what I can to hone my skill, such as it is But a course to become a writer? No. For as long as I can remember, I've had an innate desire to document the nonsense in my head.

So, is that the difference between writers and non-writers? Maybe. I think writing is certainly a skill that can be...