Rachel Hartman's Blog, page 7

Good morning, friends

And Happy New Year!

What’s that? You forgot I was your friend? Because I never write my blog anymore? Hm. There’s something to that.

There will be a few merry blog blips coming up soon. I need to choose my Word of the Year (and I can’t make up my mind this minute), and the Morris interviews are happening all next week. On Thursday I’m interviewing Stephanie Oakes, author of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly. I’ll post links to all the others, too. We decided to do all five in one week this time,...

In Singapore

Having a lovely time. Hanging out with chrysanthemums.

I loved Gardens By the Bay a whole lot, but this was a very serious moment with a very serious flower.

I have two events today:

Rachel Hartman: Dragons and Shapeshifters at 12pm in the Asian Civilizations Museum, River Room. There’s a book signing afterwards, also at the ACM.

Dragonlore and More: Worldbuilding Workshopfrom 4-7 in The Arts House, Living Room. This one requires tickets, I believe, and is a workshop intended for teens 15 and...

The Artistic Anarchist and NaNoWriMo

[This is not the speech I gave at McGill Library in Burnaby last night. This was my attempt, the day before, to put my thoughts in order. My thoughts, as I spoke them, were distinctly less ordered, which is rather a pity]

It’s NaNoWriMo time, so here’s a shout-out to the intrepid writers attempting it this year. Bravo! You are boldly taking that first step on the proverbial journey of a thousand miles.

There are as many different reasons to write as there are writers writing. Personally, I wr...

One more draft defeated

Why hello!

Sorry it’s been such a long time since I posted anything. The second draft of Tess in Boots (which is destined to be re-titled, so don’t get too attached) is finally done, however. It completely ate my brain for the entire month of October, although judging by the last posting date, it was munching pretty much all the way through September as well.

Now it is November, and I am glad. If you know me at all, you know that November is my sacred holy month of NOPE. As the days dwindle,...

More morning wisdom

This time from Ursula K. Le Guin, an interview at Interview.

If it’s tl;dr here’s my favourite quote:

There’s always room for another story. There’s always room for another tune, right? Nobody can write too many tunes. So if you have stories to tell and can tell them competently, then somebody will want to hear it if you tell it well at all. To believe that there is somebody who wants to hear that story is the kind of confidence a writer has to have when they’re in the period of learning thei...

A good start to a writing morning

Read this:“Writing Begins with Forgiveness” by Daniel JoséOlder. It’s wise and well-said.

It’s kind of a relief to know I’m not the only one who thinks this way. This has long been my complaint about NaNoWriMo, that a word-counting race to the finish too often ends in shame for those of us whose brains don’t work that way. There is never just one way to do things, friends. As I’ve said in this space before: if writers write, then I reckon I’m a thinker, and writing is just a by-product of tha...

Below the ribs

Last night I dreamed that I’d invited everyone in B’s class – plus parents and siblings – to drop by our house for tapas after school. The trouble was, I didn’t know how many people were in his class, or how many family members they had, or how many of them were actually going to show up, or what kind of food they liked. I had to make tapas anyway, because I’d committed to it, and so most of the dream was spent racking my brains for things that would be good to make and would serve lots of pe...

The sleeper awakens

It’s always hard to get back to the blog when you’ve been slacking. And I really have been slacking, although not always without reason. I cut my finger quite badly at the end of July — three stitches, I named it “Frankenfinger” — and then I had to sulk for a while, even after it healed, because it hurt to type.

I can finally say it doesn’t hurt anymore. It just feels like there’s a bead under the skin, so when I touch surfaces I don’t exactly feel them. I feel the lump of scar tissue in my f...

Oh, there I am!

Back from SDCC just in time to be bowled over by editorial notes. Looking forward to a day when this is no longer like being hit over the head with a two-by-four, but then again that might not be an actual day that comes. I may have to give up on that as yet another foolish dream of youth (youth itself, more sensible than I, quit years ago).

So yes, kind of dizzy from it all. Not much else to report beyond, still here, send chocolate.

Off to SDCC

Anybody going to San Diego Comicon? I’ve got a bookstore event and a panel. Here are the details:

Thursday, July 9th, 7pm — Barnes & Noble, 10775 Westview Parkway, San Diego — “Get Pop Cultured” panel discussion with Arwen Elys Dayton and Mariko Tamaki. Signing to follow.

Saturday, July 11th, 2-3pm — SDCC Panel Room 9, “Keep YA Weird.”Followed by group signing at table AA09

Really looking forward to it! Please do come and say hi.