Christopher Stocking's Blog, page 10

Eat Your Serial Press — Come Get Published

After speaking with the editor-in-chief and CEO of Eat Your Serial Press (the company for which I edit, and the publishing side of Maglomaniac, the company for which I write my column, Mr. Write), I have been give a fantastic job as Publishing Editor. This means I’m now one of the people in charge of bringing in new talent to Eat Your Serial, and it puts me on the submissions review board, meaning I will actually have a say in who may or may not be published. How cool is that?? I think it’s p...

BLACK POWDER BRIGADE COVER REVEAL!

I’mreally excited about the cover for Black Powder Brigade. I found an amazing designer who does both pre-made and custom covers, and she did such a fantastic job! So, enough of my jabbering. Check it out!

THE HUNT FOR A MADMAN BEGINS…

THE NEW WORLD – A group of elite soldiers known as the Black Powder Brigade patrol the world in secret, searching for strange and deadly creatures to ensure the natural order is safe.

Victoria Sorrel, operating under the lie that she is a boy, joins these men in t...

Oh, Goodreads, How You Frustrate Me

It seems like every day I grow more frustrated with Goodreads. Goodreads is an excellent concept. I’ve discovered a lot of new books that I either really liked, or that I’m sure I will like. It’s an amazing platform for book discussion and all things books. However, it seems as if authors on Goodreads are the website’s main downfall.

#1: SO MANY EVENTS — I get multiple invitations every day for free book events and author interview events and book launch events and events for other events even...

The Steampunk Bible: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Imaginary Airships, Corsets and Goggles, Mad Scientists, and Strange Literature

It’s almost my birthday, which means that I’m bound to get some presents. Presents are pretty cool, especially when one of them is the Steampunk Bible.

As someone who both writes and enjoys steampunk, this was an excellent present from my mother. It’s hardcover, and it’s shiny, and the pages are crisp and glossy, and it’s really nice. There are excellent photos and descriptions as well.

At first, my wife and I figured this isn’t the kind of book youread. This is the kind of book you leave out o...

Rest? Ha! ; A New Job!

I’ve been working a lot of hours this month at the day job, which is great, because I like money. But it’s not so great because I spend most of the day on my feet, so when I get home I’m always beat. I’d like to get home and get some writing or editing done, but I always end up falling down somewhere and lethargy sets in. I don’t want to get up, or move. All I want to do is play Fallout 3. Sure, I do eventually get some writing done, but nowhere near as much as if I weren’t so damn tired.

I do...

Things Kittens Like to do to Interrupt My Creativity

The wife and I got a kitten. We figured, “Hey! Kittens are cute, and they’re little, and they do funny things with their appendages, and they have little meows!” So, now we have Buffy. Yes, exactly like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She looks like this:

And sometimes she looks like this:

Yeah, she’s pretty cute. But, what they don’t tell you is that kittens are the antagonist in the world of creativity. I’ve compiled a list of things kittens like to do to attempt to foil the creative protagonist:

Hi...

Interview: Ellie Ann — Comic Writing

I’m really excited to have Ellie Ann on my blog today! She was wonderful enough to answer a few questions about comic writing! So, I won’t bore you with all of my nonsense. Right to the awesomeness of Ellie!

1) First off, comic writing? AWESOME. You’re like Stan Lee or something! How does one get into the comic writing business?

By loving and supporting comics. It was my enthusiastic support of Sundown: White Birch that got menoticed by a producer at Motionworks Entertainment, and then he checke...

Hunger vs. Starvation — Being Overzealous can be a Bad Thing

Yesterday, I saw a Tweet to a blog post with a headline about how it’s good to be hungry when you’re trying to reach a goal, but starving for success can do more harm than good. I wasn’t in a position to read said article, and I’m certain I won’t be able to find it. I know if I search “hunger vs. starvation” or anything even close to that I’ll get more websites about feeding third world children than I can count. So, I figured I’d take a crack at it myself — Being in a position where I’m aimi...

I’m a Writer and I’m Not Perfect

This is a pet peeve of mine:

I’m a writer. I deal in words and language every day. I deal in creation and characters and dialogue and descriptions.

Every day.

However, despite the amount of time I spend with words, I’m not perfect. Nor is anyone else.

I make mistakes in my writing. i.e: typos in online conversation.

So, when I say “I’m sory about that,” don’t tell me “Sory? I thought you were a writer?”

I am a writer. And this conversation is not going into a book. I don’t proofread my messages. If...

Re-Publishing Your Self-Published Work

With the ease of self-publishing (and I mean it’s physically easy to publish, not be successful at it), self-publishing companies have made it simple for authors to maintain complete control over their work–including making changes to it after publishing.

As far as I know–and please feel free to correct me–with traditional publishing, once a book is published, that’s it. There’s no going back and making changes or fixing something an editor may have missed. It’s out there for everyone until a...