Cameron Lowe's Blog, page 2

Goodbye to Ariama

I have unpublished Journey of the Caged, and that breaks my heart. But it’s not up to the standards I want.

To Nao, Gavrien, Lennox, and all the rest, I love you so much. You rode in the back of my mind for a decade and change, and I’m thankful I finally got a chance to tell your story. I’m sorry it wasn’t as good as you deserve.

Today sucks.

Of monsters and love

There’s a story in this upcoming collection I keep going round and round with in my head. It’s called Pumpkin, and it’s a relatively simple short story I won’t spoil here, because I’m drawing closer and closer to the release. But I’m comfortable saying this – it’s not so much an actual horror story as it is a story about fear. Not fear of monsters (though there is one), but of putting yourself out there and trusting someone with who you are. It’s not a terribly complex story, but it’s a good one...

Forever Lands forever gone?

I keep thinking about removing Forever Lands from being offered on Amazon. I don’t know why, except all the times I roll over that novel when I’m looking through my sales figures, it sorta depresses me. I think that book and its failure to invite any readership whatsoever was the start of my current two-year long bad mojo.

I don’t know. It doesn’t really hurt anything being in circulation, but I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Let’s face it starting off a book with a child being transfo...

Second why of the day

Why oh why in Mare of Easttown are the chief and the sergeant sitting around talking about details of the case like the other wouldn’t know the missing victim was a drug addict? They’re both obviously very well aware of the specifics.

Just start the show from an earlier point. Or have this conversation with someone who is new to the case. Or… literally anything other than this strange exposition dump.

Why?

Why are bellbottoms back? Why is that a thing? Are leisure suits coming back? Skullets? Blown out perms?

Whyyyyyy?

Twenty thousand words under the sea

Sometimes, you know it isn’t going to work out, but you try to stay together for the scenes. You know it’s going to hurt them most of all, but still, you just can’t take any more nights being disappointed by the plot. And you will be disappointed by the plot, no matter how much you wish it was otherwise.

Okay, horrible jokes aside, this one sucks. I thought I had enough meat on the bone to flesh out a novella/novel thing and it just doesn’t work. I think the characters are strong enough I’ll ...

The Happy List

All right, because I can’t just walk into a Bed, Bath, and Beyond and buy normal-ass pillows, I’ve been trying to fall asleep for over four hours at this point. It’s time to admit defeat and try to get some thoughts down about what I need to do to get happy again. This is my “I’m nearing 40 and the State of Cam is very much Not Okay” list. Think of it less as a midlife crisis than about how to put my life back on rails. And let me be clear – I’m grateful for what I have. Please don’t take this ...

Visibility without Twitter and Facebook

One of the things I worry about not being a part of social media is book visibility, but this last week has, if not proven, at least provided a good sample of evidence that I don’t need it. Sales are up, KENP numbers are up, everything seems to be good on that end and I’m a lot less stressed about people being… well, people. Win-win.

I’ve also been watching Harley Quinn in small fits. It’s a great show, sort of along the lines of something like Archer or It’s Always Sunny in terms of its humo...

Online menus

Why oh why oh why would you not take five minutes, snap a picture of your menu, and upload it to your Facebook page? Why?!?

Mortal Kombat (2021), Doom Patrol, and Fire Emblem

I’ve been watching, reading, and playing things.. Let’s talk about them!

Audience surrogates are a tricky narrative device to pull off well. If you’re not aware, these are characters inserted into a story to help ask the expository questions necessary (at least in the writers’ or producers’ minds) to fill out the plot so audiences aren’t left with questions about the world or its rules.

Like most tropes, audience surrogates aren’t good or bad, but you can generally find examples of both. ...