David B. Coe's Blog, page 28

Magical Words How-To: Now On Kindle!

How To Write Magical Words:  A Writer's Companion (Bella Rosa Books), which was co-written by the Magical Words regulars, including yours truly, is now available in a Kindle version.  I don't own a Kindle myself, but I am told that its availability in Kindle format is a Very Good Thing.  I hope that all of you agree.  You can find the Kindle version here.

A Post About Getting Back to Basics

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, A.J. Hartley, Stuart Jaffe, and Edmund Schubert, among others. The post is called “Back to Basics, part I: Be a Writer” and it is the the first in a new series of posts on the basics of writing. I hope you enjoy it.

StellarCon Starts Tomorrow!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for StellarCon, in High Point, North Carolina.  Most of the Magical Words crew will be there (A.J., we'll miss you!) and on Saturday night we will be hosting a party to celebrate (belatedly) the release of How To Write Magical Words:  A Writer's Companion .  If you're in the area, we hope you'll stop by the con, come and listen to our panels and readings, and stop in at the launch party.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

The Cynical Right

There are, I believe, two ways to read what the GOP is doing at the Congressional and state levels.  On the one hand, this may be all driven by ideologues -- it's easy to dismiss the budget battle in Washington and the craziness in Wisconsin as the overreaching of Tea Party Republicans emboldened by their electoral success.  That would explain why House Republicans would be willing to force through budget cuts that will, in all likelihood, stall the economic recovery and cost the economy nearly 700,000 jobs.  It would explain why Scott Walker, Wisconsin's newly elected Tea Party Governor, would be willing to alienate teachers and union workers in his pursuit of a political agenda that goes far, far beyond "fiscal concerns."

On the other hand, this could be a coordinated and, frankly, strategically sound attack on the Democratic Party and the Obama Presidency.  Weaken unions and teachers' associations, two of the party's core constituencies, to the point where they are unable to protect themselves and their jobs much less raise money for the party.  And at the same time, cripple the economy in the name of "budget savings," so that next year, when unemployment has spiked again and the economy has slipped back into recession, they can point fingers at the President and, they hope, win back the White House.

Are Republicans that cynical?  Would they sacrifice hundreds of thousands of jobs and sabotage the American economy in order to win an election?  I really want to say no.  I really want to blame this on Tea Party ideology run amok.  But the truth is, I think they are just that cynical.

AFTER HOURS is Out!

Today is the release day for AFTER HOURS: TALES FROM THE UR-BAR, the anthology from Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray (DAW Books) that includes "The Tavern Fire," the very first D.B. Jackson publication.  In addition to the D.B. Jackson story, the anthology includes stories from some of the best authors in fantasy and science fiction, and I hope you'll check it out.

One More Post About Descriptive Writing

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, A.J. Hartley, Stuart Jaffe, and Edmund Schubert, among others. The post is called “Bonus! Descriptive Passages, part IV: Dialogue” and it is, I believe, the last in my series of posts on descriptive passages. I hope you enjoy it.

A Post About History and Mythology

The D.B. Jackson blog ("Wit's Plough") is up and open for business.  Today's post is called "Mythology and History" and it focuses on the similarities and differences between American history and the ancient mythologies of older cultures (the Celts, the Greeks, etc.).  It offers more questions than answers, but after spending the week reading mythology, I find the questions themselves pretty interesting.  I hope you will, too.  Please visit the blog at http://www.dbjackson-author.com/blog

And feel free to bookmark the site and return anytime.

Fire In the Mind

You know that feeling where it seems like your mind is firing a thousand times a second, where the ideas are coming so quickly that you can't jot them down fast enough?   That's where I am now.

I have a new project.  Yes, already.  I know, I finished a book on Monday, and already I'm knee-deep in another.  That's how I promised myself it would be this year.  I have no original releases this year, except for the first D.B. Jackson short story, "The Tavern Fire," which comes out on March 1 in the After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar anthology, edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray.  Thieftaker doesn't come out until next year.

So this year is all about writing new stuff and getting it contracted.  I don't know how long it will take me to feel burnt out, but right now I just want to write.  All the time.  And I'm going to ride this wave as far as it will take me.

I'd write more, but I have ideas to explore.  More as it develops....

A New Book

So, I finished a manuscript today.  I put the finishing touches on my first book for kids.  It's geared to middle readers (8 to 12 year-olds) and came in at a shade over 40,000 words.  I started the book a couple of years ago, then put it away for a while because I wasn't sure I had the voice quite right.  But my daughters loved it and urged me to finish it.  Last summer I took it out again, and worked on it for a while -- got to about the halfway point.  But I wasn't sure where it was going, so I put it away again.  And my daughters continued to bug me about it. 

Finally, this month, I took it out, figured out the ending, and wrote the final hundred pages in about three weeks.

I'm going to put it away again, but just for a couple of weeks, just to put some distance between myself the most recent work.  Then I'll read it through, make a few revisions, and start looking for Beta readers.  Know any kids on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, 3rd-6th graders, who might like to read a fantasy novel?

Two Posts Today

I have two posts going up today. The first, my usual Monday Magical Words post, can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, Stuart Jaffe, and A.J. Hartley. The post is called “A List For President’s Day” and it’s meant as a bit of historical fun for the holiday. The second can be found at http://www.sfnovelists.com, the group blog on speculative fiction that I maintain along with a group of over one hundred published authors of fantasy and science fiction. It is called “A Conversation About Outlining and Worldbuilding.” I hope you enjoy both posts.