Michell Plested's Blog, page 10

Preparing for Battle (sort of)

It is a battle for most fledgling authors to find ways to grow their readership and sell books. I have tried bookstore signings, Public Library signings, Writing Conferences of various kinds, Artisan fairs and even some charities. I’ve even been on television. The needle has moved but not as far or as quickly as I would like. One thing I have discovered is, when selling outside a store setting (I’m specifically talking about selling anywhere but a bookstore), my target audience doesn’t always have money on hand for a purchase as big as a book (bubblegum and inexpensive odds and sods, certainly, but $15 for a book? not so much). Now that I know I’m going to be hosting a […]

The Grand Experiment

I learned last week that I will be sharing a table at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. For those of you familiar with this event or one like it you know that I will be right there with the very people I’m targeting as readers. Thousands and thousands of the very people I’m targeting as readers. Let that sink in for a few moments. I’ll try to remember to breathe. It isn’t cheap to be there but, it is a massive opportunity. If I can reach even a small percentage of the attendees with my books it could be huge. I must be prepared with enough copies of my books, business cards, bookmarks and the like. Signage will be […]

Groundhog Day

Every time Groundhog Day comes I think of the movie of the same name. It is one of those movies that I can watch over and over again because: (a) it’s funny and (b) it really speaks to me. The funny part, you may or may not agree on with me and I’m okay with that. We all have different things we find amusing. The speaks to me part…well, if are of the mind to argue, personal opinion is exactly that – Personal. The things that speak to me specifically come in the second half of the movie. Phil has already done all the little boy prankish-type things he can think of. He has seen the dark side of life […]

Playing in the Snow

I went out into the mountains over the weekend with my Scouts and Venturers to build Quinzees (snow shelters). This is always a fun camp for the youth (and the leaders if they would care to admit it). Not for everyone, I suppose, but still a fun time. Here are some pictures of the activities below.  

A Change of Scenery

I’ve been struggling a little bit the past few months. I’ve talked about the challenges of an ailing parent; I know that is a large part of it. Having someone I am now 100% responsible for who neither understands nor approves of being under my care has been difficult. It has affected my sleep and weighed heavily on my mind. As you might imagine, it has negatively impacted my writing as well. So, this weekend, myself and several of my fellow Scout Leaders will be taking a group of our Scouting youth out to the mountains to build quinzees (see picture for sample). We will be helping the Scouts build the quinzees and then they will have the opportunity to […]

I Need to go for a Walk

Walking is a favorite activity of mine. I get to go outside for the sunshine and fresh air. I get exercise and I occasionally meet someone I know or someone new. I also get the opportunity to clear my head and collect my thoughts. It has been a fantastic source of ideas for my writing many times. Lately, my mind has been filled with lots of things that have nothing to do with my writing. That’s okay because there are things we all have to deal with in our lives whether it is work, family or something else entirely. Unfortunately, all those other things are keeping me from getting my head in the writing game. That is a bad thing […]

Learning from Adversity

When I first started writing as a pre-teen I was already reading a lot; probably 3 – 5 books every week. That was because I had a 90-minute bus ride every morning and every evening for school. Living in the country where my nearest neighbor was several kilometers away meant, once my chores were done I had two choices for my evening: watch one of the 3 snowy television channels we got on our 14″ television or read. Reading usually won. All those books taught me something – I hadn’t lived enough yet to write my own books. I mean, who would be interested in the boring life of an Alberta farm kid? This learning just goes to show that, […]

Out There for All to See

One of my biggest stresses when I first started down the road to getting my work published came from a friend of mine. He said to me, “I can’t wait to read your book so I can get into your head.” That freaked me out just a little. I mean, do I really want people wandering around in my head? It’s a pretty disorganized place to be for starters. It also makes me ask myself the question, “Just who do I think I am, anyway?” I mean, my writing is really me, on display. Do I think my ideas are important enough to put out there? It all comes back to that artistic doubt many (most?) of us share. Is […]

How Am I Doing In December After NaNoWriMo?

I know that solid, well-defined goals drive me forward. They give me a sense of urgency that is hard to ignore. I should have created solid, well-defined goals for December after my wildly successful November. Alas, I didn’t do that and my writing, while consistent, has suffered a little. My plan (note, I didn’t say “goal”) for December was to finish one book (needed about 6,000 words to do that) edit two books (one of them my NaNo novel) and continue work on a third. I did finish the one book. I have continued to work on the third book (so far adding about 6,000 words to it) and I’ve set myself up to edit one of the two. Not […]

Way Outside My Comfort Zone

I have an idea and it scares me. The idea is a story idea and before you say anything, I fully acknowledge that I have lots of those. The difference in this case is, the idea is in a genre I’ve never really read, telling a story that could be more…personal…than I’ve ever done before. A friend of mine, Leah Crichton, was telling me a couple months ago about one of her most recent novels. When she wrote it, she found it to be immensely challenging. It struck so many emotions and other raw nerves that it shook her as she wrote it. It is also, she acknowledges, one of the best things she has written to date. That’s saying […]