Adam Heine's Blog, page 34

On the Art of Socializing

(In which my wife Cindy and I discuss taking our five boys to a local playgroup)

Cindy: "I don't know if I want to go to playgroup tomorrow. But the boys would love it. I feel bad."

Me: "They have snacks at playgroup, right?"

Cindy: "Yes..."

Me: "I'll take the boys."

Cindy: *smirks* "You'd have to socialize with people."

Me: "You'd be surprised how rarely you actually 'have to' socialize."

Cindy: *laughs* "Yeah, you'll just sit next to the snack table with your book, not even checking to see ...

How Needles Almost Killed Me, and How I Got Over It (Mostly)

I'm waiting to have my blood drawn as I write this. There's little else on my mind.



I hate needles.



I always have. Even in my late 20s, I had to look away and hold my breath while the nurse said, "This will only pinch a little."



When we were preparing to move out here, we had to get a couple of vaccinations. One time in particular, I was so freaked out I couldn't eat breakfast or even sit down in the waiting room. I just wanted it over with. Well, they gave me the shot, but on our way out ...

Travel Times: A Reference

 

I frequently find myself having to calculate how far away things are when I'm writing. "How long would it take him to walk there? Can a horse run that far? Who would get there first?"



This is a reference for myself, but I figured you could probably use it too. The numbers here are averages. Actual speeds and endurances will vary.




HumanHorse w/ Heavy LoadHorse w/ Light Load
Walking Speed5 kph

(3 mph)6 kph

(4 mph)10 kph

(6 mph)
Distance Traveled in a Day (8 hours)40 km

(25 mi)48 km

Blogging for Your Target Audience

Unpublished writers' blogs are a strange beast. They're part community-building, part writing practice, and part planning for a hopeful future in which we need a platform. It's that last bit I want to talk about today.



Aspiring writers who blog are sometimes told they shouldn't write for other writers. I can understand that. I mean, you want to reach your future target audience (who is interested in your books), not other writers (who may or may not be). But I wonder why my future audience (...

Earning a Reader's Trust

(Remix)



When we read something, anything, we want to know that we can trust the author. If we trust that the author knows what they're doing, we'll give them more grace when they make "mistakes" like using unnecessary adverbs or telling when they should be showing. We trust that eventually they'll explain whatever we don't understand.



If we don't trust the author, those mistakes will stick out like they were written in sparkly red ink. If we don't understand something right away, r...

Sketch: The Train Job

Cross-posted from Anthdrawlogy's Wild West week.

Sympathetic Characters: The Struggle

One encouragement I keep hearing, regarding my querying, is that I "deserve" an agent. I like hearing that, for sure. But the last time I heard it I thought, "They haven't even read my novel. Why do they think that?"



And I think part of the reason is because you guys see me fighting for it.



Because there's something we love about a person who fights for what they want against all odds, who never gives up no matter how many times they get knocked down. This is why I love characters like Naru...

Blog Schedules: Do You Even Notice?

You may have noticed that Susan's guest post went up on Tuesday -- normally an off-day for Author's Echo -- but also that there was no post on Wednesday. Or maybe you didn't notice! That's what this poll is about.



See, I've seen conflicting advice on the subject of blog schedules. Most professional bloggers say you need a schedule so your audience knows what to expect. I get that. That's one reason I blog M/W/F (usually).



But other advice says don't worry about it. E-mail subscriptions and ...

Guest Post: Why My Critique Partners Are Smarter Than Me

Susan Kaye Quinn is a regular here at Author's Echo and one of my critique partners. She writes, she blogs, she mothers, and I understand she once politicked and rocket scienced (it's a word now -- shut up). Her new novel Open Minds, which I talked about yesterday, is out now, and to celebrate, Susan wrote like a billion blog posts.



Her book is awesome because it's about a world of mind readers and hidden mindjackers (who control minds). This guest post is cool because it talks about how...

Books I Read: Open Minds

Susan Quinn is a regular here at Author's Echo and (I'm proud to say) one of my critique partners. She wrote this book. It comes out tomorrow.



It's pretty cool.



Title: Open Minds

Author: Susan Kaye Quinn

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Published: 2011

My Content Rating: PG-13 for make-outs, tense situations, and the occasional bullet



In a world where everyone can read minds, Kira is a zero -- a freak who can't read or be read. When she accidentally controls her best friend's mind, nearly killing him, sh...