Arshad Ahsanuddin's Blog, page 27
June 5, 2011
Sunset Video Trailer
A cool new video trailer for my first book, Sunset, is now posted online. You can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdvchN... I think it turned out very well. If it piques your interest, head over to the BUY THE BOOKS page on the www.pactarcanum.com website and pick up a copy. You can even read a sample in the Kindle Store. Alternatively, [...]
June 3, 2011
Labor Value vs. Market Value
While exchanging emails with the successful independent authors who managed the Blog Tour de Troops, I read one bit of advice that particularly interested me. The author essentially stated that today's writers need to disconnect from pricing their works according to how much effort went into them, and focus on pricing to make sales. What [...]
June 1, 2011
Moonlight Release
As we head into June, keep your eyes open for the wide release of Moonlight. The Smashwords edition is available now, and the print edition will be available in late June, along with additional ebook editions for Amazon.com, iBookstore, Sony Reader Store, Kobo, etc. The third book in the Pact Arcanum series opens in 2042, [...]
May 31, 2011
Blog Tour de Troops Wrap-up
Thank you to the Indie Book Collective for organizing this event, and to everyone who participated by leaving their comments! Your sentiments were greatly appreciated. It was inspiring and humbling to be part of this experience, and to see the outpouring of support that was offered by both commenters and authors. Whether you believe in [...]
May 28, 2011
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
The stop before mine on the blog tour is Stacey Kennedy (http://www.staceykennedy.com/blog/) and the next stop is Pandora Poikilos (http://peacefrompieces.blogspot.com/). Be sure and check them out, as well as the rest of the authors participating in the blog tour over the course of this Memorial Day weekend, and spread the ability of my fellow independent/self-published [...]
May 27, 2011
Blog Tour de Troops
Please join me in this Blog Tour de Troops charity event! This Memorial Day, I'm joining over 30 authors in thanking our troops for the sacrifices they have made in our defense. See http://indiebookcollective.wordpress.com right now for all the details and the full author roster. From the Indie Book Collective Blog: Who wants free eBooks? [...]
May 26, 2011
On Setting and Characterization
I must admit, these are my weakest talents. I have a tendency to blow right past setting and characterization to get to the plot and dialogue, then force myself to go back and define the characters and their surroundings at the end. I'm working on it though. My first editor recommended the exercise of defining the elements [...]
May 25, 2011
On Dialogue
When I first started writing, I thought dialogue was just talking on paper. The more I read however, the more I come to realize that spoken dialogue is inefficient. It meanders from topic to topic. It includes extraneous words that occur to the speaker off the cuff, so they don't necessarily fit together harmoniously. It [...]
May 23, 2011
On Theme and Subtlety
In my experience, there are three kinds of stories: those with no theme, those with an obvious theme, and those with an understated or hidden theme. Stories without an overall message are enjoyable for their plot, setting, and characters, but they don't make a lasting impression or change how we view the world. Stories with [...]
May 21, 2011
On Plot
Ingermanson and Economy's Writing Fiction for Dummies mentions four rough creative paradigms that that authors have identified: seat-of-the-pants (no planning or editing), edit-as-you-go (write without planning, but edit on the fly), snowflake (general outline, updated as the writing diverges from the original conception), and outline (detailed outline, with strict adherence). It seems to me that [...]
