S.B. Sebrick's Blog, page 3
April 29, 2016
Lastest Creepy Pasta - Trick the Treater
What do you do when the costume is real?Hi there, my fellow readers. When you have a minute, check out 'Trick the Treater', for an example of how you do not want a night of tricker treating to end.
What's your scariest Halloween experience? Have a wonderful weekend and I will be back with another Creepy Pasta next Friday. See you soon, everyone.
The 'First Years of Fear' short story collection coming soon to electronic and paperback bookshelves in June 2016.
April 22, 2016
A Christmas Wish - Now Available as a Creepy Pasta
'Cole opened his present. He found a nightmare.'Hi there, my fellow readers. Welcome to my next project, known on YouTube as Creepy Pastas. I've combined this audio story with a musical background for a truly unnerving experience.
Click on the picture above to follow the link to YouTube and try out the story for yourself. Have a wonderful weekend and I will be back with another Creepy Pasta next Friday. See you soon, everyone!
The 'First Years of Fear' short story collection is coming soon to electronic and paperback bookshelves in June 2016.
April 4, 2016
Waking up early. Paying the price.
Are you a writer? Do you feel like you never have time to actually write?
Sometimes, with our busy schedules and hectic family lives, our best bet for achieving our dreams is getting up an hour earlier. It doesn't sound like much, but a single hour each day, times six days a week, can create some powerful personal progress as the years roll by. My girlfriend and I just agreed to get up at 6 am each morning to write, before our busy schedules can interfere. My day feels infinitely better when I've already got eight pages written and done by 9 am, rather than scrambling throughout the rest of my day trying to fit in time to write. Of course, everyone's situation is a little different, but if you're a writer struggling to find time to do your thing, perhaps getting up a little earlier is the answer. Personally, I recommend finding a writer friend on a similar schedule. It makes a big difference in the long haul, to have someone figuratively at your side, helping you to stay focused and keep sacrificing for your larger goals.
This entry is an example of some of the work I've posted on SixWordMemoirs.com . For any writers out there who feel like they have no time to polish their craft, this format is a useful option. This is even smaller than twitter's nano-fiction options (limited to 140 characters). Personally, when I'm neck deep in a novel, taking a step back to work on something as small as a six-word memoir or a flash fiction piece (under 1,000 words), is a pleasant change of pace.
Sometimes, with our busy schedules and hectic family lives, our best bet for achieving our dreams is getting up an hour earlier. It doesn't sound like much, but a single hour each day, times six days a week, can create some powerful personal progress as the years roll by. My girlfriend and I just agreed to get up at 6 am each morning to write, before our busy schedules can interfere. My day feels infinitely better when I've already got eight pages written and done by 9 am, rather than scrambling throughout the rest of my day trying to fit in time to write. Of course, everyone's situation is a little different, but if you're a writer struggling to find time to do your thing, perhaps getting up a little earlier is the answer. Personally, I recommend finding a writer friend on a similar schedule. It makes a big difference in the long haul, to have someone figuratively at your side, helping you to stay focused and keep sacrificing for your larger goals.
This entry is an example of some of the work I've posted on SixWordMemoirs.com . For any writers out there who feel like they have no time to polish their craft, this format is a useful option. This is even smaller than twitter's nano-fiction options (limited to 140 characters). Personally, when I'm neck deep in a novel, taking a step back to work on something as small as a six-word memoir or a flash fiction piece (under 1,000 words), is a pleasant change of pace.
April 1, 2016
Feels Like This Chapter Wrote Itself.
Every once in a while, I write a chapter which easily flows from one idea to the next. I love those scenes where the characters are organically interacting, bringing up conflicts and allegations I didn't even think of beforehand, and making the story so much better in the process. Fiction writing feels like an amazing job, when the characters in your head are doing all the work. The trick is getting that mindset to last beyond one chapter. Writer's block is part of the process and happens to the best of us, but secretly, one day I hope to write a novel straight through, without interruption, on the proverbial wings of my hard-working characters. One day!
February 20, 2016
My First Steps into YouTube
Hey everyone. This weekend I'm figuring out the in's and out's of putting up videos on YouTube. I'm opening up channels about my stories, how to make money selling fiction, Krav Maga (Israeli Martial Art), Fitness and Survival. Check out my introduction video, here, the first of many to come. Don't forget to subscribe to my Channel on YouTube, and my Newsletter here on my website, so you never miss a release of my latest work.
Have a great weekend everyone. See you later!
Have a great weekend everyone. See you later!
February 16, 2016
Tales from RadCon 2016
I had a wonderful time at RadCon last weekend, out in Pasco, Washington. This fantasy and science fiction convention has always been vital source of information about the writing and publishing industries, and this year's professionals did not disappoint. Mike Shepard and Kaye Thornbrugh had particularly useful information about promotion and pricing. They are both working on series in the young adult genre, like me. I'll know within the next couple months how effective those changes are in my own publishing efforts. Fingers crossed!Sitting on those panels and meeting so many talented people is a lot like drinking from a firehose. There's so much to learn and you just pray you don't run out of buckets, or in my case, notebook paper. I sat on a 'Medieval Weapons in Fantasy' panel with a number of history buffs, martial arts enthusiasts and soldiers. There's no better research about a topic, than someone who has already experienced it for themselves.
My girlfriend, Sarah, attended RadCon with me. She has a health and fitness YouTube channel as Lady Luna and is currently working on her first novel and a collection of short stories. There's nothing better than spending Valentine's Day weekend with a fellow writer. She was even kind enough to take notes during the panels I spoke at. There just isn't time to record the 'good stuff' when you're trying to keep up with the conversations on the panel, so she really saved my bacon right there.
There were a couple other interesting panels I participated in (as a regular joe, not a speaker). The Viking food and cooking presentation really helped me better understand the economics behind various diets in the Middle Ages, which will definitely be useful in my next fantasy novel.
There was an aikido demonstration (samurai martial arts) which was illuminating to me. I've been studying Krav Maga (Israeli street fighting) off and on for the last couple years, so the contrast between what combat training was like in Medieval Japan and nowadays was pretty different. Samurai do everything in wide, sweeping motions and Krav Maga fighters work in straight lines. That's the simplest way to put it, at least.
All-in-all, a great weekend. Now I've got to roll up my sleeves and get back to the next project. Have a great week everyone, I'll be in touch later.
January 27, 2016
Radcon 2016
Hey Everyone,
For anyone living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State, I will be attending Radcon (a science fiction and fantasy convention) from February 12th to the 14th as a Panelist. It will be held at the Red Lion Inn in Pasco, Washington. I will be speaking, alongside a handful of other professional writers, on the topics of Weaponry in Fantasy, Using a 'hook' to sell a novel and reviewing the best writing advice I was every given. With a little luck, perhaps I'll see some of you there!
For anyone living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington State, I will be attending Radcon (a science fiction and fantasy convention) from February 12th to the 14th as a Panelist. It will be held at the Red Lion Inn in Pasco, Washington. I will be speaking, alongside a handful of other professional writers, on the topics of Weaponry in Fantasy, Using a 'hook' to sell a novel and reviewing the best writing advice I was every given. With a little luck, perhaps I'll see some of you there!
January 4, 2016
New Year, New Goals
Welcome to 2016 Everyone!
I know it's a bit late in the week (if we're being picky about when the new year actually started) but my holiday extended a bit longer than anticipated, so here I am. Like many of you, I'm taking the chance to fix some goals for the year 2016. Obviously I'd like to be writing 'full-time' by next year, but over the years I've learned the importance of focusing one's goals and efforts on the elements of success that are directly within your control.
Odd as it may seem, sales aren't on that list. Creating new titles, fresh cover designs and aggressive marketing tactics, are absolutely with in my sphere of influence, but sales are not.
So, I thought I'd share my goals for 2016 and the reasoning behind them, for my fellow writers who might have something to learn or add to the mix.
Goal #1
Write 6 new rough drafts in 2016. I estimate that if I stick to one thousand words a day, I can have this goal done by the end of the year. I'd like to add a couple more novels, if I can, but life happens and 6 new novels is still a decent haul for most independent authors I've met.
Goal #2
Follow the '6 month model' with all new novels. In the past, I've publishing new titles as soon as they were ready. This meant titles emerged rather erratically and maintaining a steady stream of content grew nigh on impossible. Especially when my class work increased suddenly during my days at college.
At the time, I didn't realize how powerful consistency could be, in both marketing each new title and managing some of the stress behind independent publishing. The essence behind it is to have new novels prepared well in advance, so as to take full advantage of the various marketing avenues available. I've learned more about this at Worldcon and Orycon earlier in 2015, so I'm excited to put these measures to work and see what happens.
Goal #3
Post something on by blog and/or social media at least once per week.
Oddly enough, this is the goal I feel the most challenged by. Personally, I'm a pretty private person and even my facebook page doesn't contain much personal stuff from my life. Learning to use social media regularly and well has been a challenge for me. But, like the '6 month model' I studied up on the subject at Worldcon and Orycon, so hopefully I can make solid strides in this area as well.
To help me accomplish this goal, I've been working with sixwordmemoirs.com, which allows writers to post memoirs of six words or less and the stories than inspired them. After another year or so, I may roll these into a short collection. An author can never have too many of those :)
Best of luck with your guys' goals for 2016. I'll be in touch. Take care!
I know it's a bit late in the week (if we're being picky about when the new year actually started) but my holiday extended a bit longer than anticipated, so here I am. Like many of you, I'm taking the chance to fix some goals for the year 2016. Obviously I'd like to be writing 'full-time' by next year, but over the years I've learned the importance of focusing one's goals and efforts on the elements of success that are directly within your control.
Odd as it may seem, sales aren't on that list. Creating new titles, fresh cover designs and aggressive marketing tactics, are absolutely with in my sphere of influence, but sales are not.
So, I thought I'd share my goals for 2016 and the reasoning behind them, for my fellow writers who might have something to learn or add to the mix.
Goal #1
Write 6 new rough drafts in 2016. I estimate that if I stick to one thousand words a day, I can have this goal done by the end of the year. I'd like to add a couple more novels, if I can, but life happens and 6 new novels is still a decent haul for most independent authors I've met.
Goal #2
Follow the '6 month model' with all new novels. In the past, I've publishing new titles as soon as they were ready. This meant titles emerged rather erratically and maintaining a steady stream of content grew nigh on impossible. Especially when my class work increased suddenly during my days at college.
At the time, I didn't realize how powerful consistency could be, in both marketing each new title and managing some of the stress behind independent publishing. The essence behind it is to have new novels prepared well in advance, so as to take full advantage of the various marketing avenues available. I've learned more about this at Worldcon and Orycon earlier in 2015, so I'm excited to put these measures to work and see what happens.
Goal #3
Post something on by blog and/or social media at least once per week.
Oddly enough, this is the goal I feel the most challenged by. Personally, I'm a pretty private person and even my facebook page doesn't contain much personal stuff from my life. Learning to use social media regularly and well has been a challenge for me. But, like the '6 month model' I studied up on the subject at Worldcon and Orycon, so hopefully I can make solid strides in this area as well.
To help me accomplish this goal, I've been working with sixwordmemoirs.com, which allows writers to post memoirs of six words or less and the stories than inspired them. After another year or so, I may roll these into a short collection. An author can never have too many of those :)
Best of luck with your guys' goals for 2016. I'll be in touch. Take care!
December 25, 2015
Season's Greetings and Writing Updates
Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all have wonderful times ahead with friends and family today. Don't forget the sweetness of serving others on this great holiday (I'm in the process of teaching my niece and nephew Christmas isn't all about the presents). My father always loved the idea of making a game of service, to see how many people you could help, without getting caught. A fun challenge indeed, if you find yourself bored on Christmas day.
Due to a rather extensive Christmas present taking a few days longer to put together than I anticipated, 'Death's Edge' will be delayed a bit. I'm still going over two final scenes to set up the main villains, but I will keep you in the loop as things progress.
Every so often, I add a short memoir and some backstory at SixWordMemoirs.com . If you've got a moment to idle away, there are some interesting posts there. Cramming as much meaning into only six words is an interesting challenge. The exact opposite of novel writing, I suppose. Again, have a wonderful holiday everyone. Talk to you soon!
Due to a rather extensive Christmas present taking a few days longer to put together than I anticipated, 'Death's Edge' will be delayed a bit. I'm still going over two final scenes to set up the main villains, but I will keep you in the loop as things progress.
Every so often, I add a short memoir and some backstory at SixWordMemoirs.com . If you've got a moment to idle away, there are some interesting posts there. Cramming as much meaning into only six words is an interesting challenge. The exact opposite of novel writing, I suppose. Again, have a wonderful holiday everyone. Talk to you soon!
December 12, 2015
How the Weekend got away from me
I had originally planned to finish my interview with Patches this weekend, before finishing off the final draft of 'Beyond the Edge'. Friday morning started off with no plans for the whole day, so I figured I could relax for an hour or so before knuckling down. Next thing I know, I'm babysitting my 18 month old nephew for most of the day, while his mom is in the emergency room. While the experience did cost me time I'd initially set aside for writing, it did provide some other useful realizations.
I used to tell myself, as a writer, I could work from home once I started a family. Now, I'm not so sure! Turns out, handling kids is a full time job. I've spent time with my niece and nephew (two and four years old), but never for more than a couple hours. Now, I'm wondering if working out of an office might be better, then I could come home and put all my energy into my family, rather than spend every day half-focused on my writing and my kids.
What do you guys think? If you could make a living from a computer, would you rather work from home, or from an office?
I hope you all have a great weekend. Talk to you again next week.
I used to tell myself, as a writer, I could work from home once I started a family. Now, I'm not so sure! Turns out, handling kids is a full time job. I've spent time with my niece and nephew (two and four years old), but never for more than a couple hours. Now, I'm wondering if working out of an office might be better, then I could come home and put all my energy into my family, rather than spend every day half-focused on my writing and my kids.
What do you guys think? If you could make a living from a computer, would you rather work from home, or from an office?
I hope you all have a great weekend. Talk to you again next week.
