Matthew Iden's Blog, page 15

Writers on Writing: I Guest Blog on Kathleen Valentine’s Site

I’m excited to let you know I’m today’s guest blogger on novelist Kathleen Valentine’s site Parlez-Moi. Kathleen has a wonderful thematic blog going where she asks writers to comment on writing, especially the authors that have influenced and guided them. I chose to ruminate on Tobias Wolff’s amazing short story “Bullet in the Brain,” a [...]

The Stories In Between

I’ve never been asked that hackneyed question of writers “where do you get your ideas?” or, at least, it’s been asked in a more subtle way. I don’t really think about it any more, because I’ve learned that ideas come from anywhere, at anytime. Ideas are the opportunistic catch of the fishing mind and they [...]

Fantasy short, Seven Into the Bleak, is out

I’m happy to announce that my third fantasy short story, Seven Into the Bleak, is now available on Amazon.com. If you enjoy your fantasy thoughtful, tense, and meaningful, you’ll enjoy this tale. Just $.99! Seven is 8,000 words long, or about 30 paperback pages. It includes an Author’s Notes section on the how and why of [...]

My sister, consummate reader, gets angry at Penguin

My sister is a voracious reader and book-aholic. I have her and my mother to thank for the reading–and, later, the writing–bug that bit me early. Reading, along with horses and dogs, is an absolute passion for her. She routinely buys whole series of authors she likes, often multiple times (her dogs think of them [...]

How Writing is Like Getting Lost on the Way to Work

Friends of mine recently asked me how I felt about my writing. I found myself describing how and why I thought I was getting better, why I felt I was able to sit down and write with little hesitation, and how this was profoundly different than the way I approached my writing just a few [...]

A Novel’s Journey: A Reason to Live

Almost four years ago, an idea for a crime fiction series wriggled its way into my subconscious. Although I’ve always enjoyed reading Parker, Child, and Crais, I was hankering to write about someone who wasn’t always right, wasn’t indestructible, and had flaws and problems that weren’t of his own making…but had to be solved anyway. [...]

Self-publishing as Meaningful Work

There is a passage in Malcolm Gladwell’s amazing book Outliers that, at its heart, speaks volumes about why writers should self-publish. [T]hree things—autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward—are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It is not how much money we [...]

Correcting Mistakes with Errnet

One of the challenges facing indie writers is how to recreate the editorial support that a traditionally published author receives (or is supposed to receive). If you take your writing seriously, having a handful of volunteer readers isn’t enough; you need true editorial help. There are many types of editors, however: substantive editing, line editing, [...]

Goodreads Giveaway: Some more bits and pieces

This is a micro-post update on my Goodreads Giveaway. Some things I’ve gleaned in the last few days: Goodreads gives itself 24 hours to let you know who the winners of your Giveaway are. In my case, my Giveaway ended on a Friday and they didn’t let me know who the winner was until Saturday [...]

Using your Goodreads Giveaway for Maximum Advantage

This past Friday I wrapped up my first Goodreads Giveaway and thought I’d share some of the tips, tricks, and results I learned from doing it. Giving books away is still one of the best promotional tools available to authors (see my post Give It Away for strategies and a list of sites where you [...]