Christopher Stocking's Blog, page 26

London Darkness: Infernal Inventions Cover

I’m very please to unveil the cover for my next book, London Darkness: Infernal Inventions! (Don’t forget to mark it as “to-read!” on Goodreads!)

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Now Commencing Draft 2

The time has finally come. After months of writing and waiting for edits, I have finally received my novel back and can begin my second draft. I’m really quite excited. I’ve also received the base image for the book’s cover, which is also very exciting!

I have the day off from work today, so I plan to spend it re-reading my novel to check for small typos and basic story flaws. I went over it for major story flaws and typos before I sent it to my editor which I think helped a lot. I got very go...

There’s No Community Like The Writing Community

For the record, I love Calvin and Hobbes. I read them as a child, and have them tattooed on my arm. Such great comics

I’ve been taking my writing seriously for a few years now, and I feel like if I were to meet with many of the writers whose blog I follow, or who I’ve met on WANATribe, (Which I’ll talk about shortly), they would be some of the best friends I could have.

Many of us writers have a certain way of thinking, and have gone through many similar experiences that I think allows us to co...

Some General Updates

I’m back from vacation! I had a good–and busy–time in Florida, but I’m glad to be home again.

To start, I’d like to let you all know that I participated in a “get yo know ya’” post exchange over at Poeta Officium. I’m honored that she would allow me to take up some of her blog space. Go check it out!

My next update is about a friend of mine who has asked me for some help. He’s new to writing and is working on his first book. I convinced him to start a writing blog where he has posted his own in...

Don’t Blame me, They said it!

When I first began writing I was really concerned about what my characters said, in the sense that I didn’t want one of them to say something that might offend the reader, or something the reader might find controversial. Now, of course I’m not writing anything political or that sort of thing where I’ll be sent death threats. However, if one of my characters made a racial stereotype, (be it an actual race or a fey race), I didn’t want to upset my readers. I didn’t want to get blamed for what...

Infernal Inventions on Goodreads

I’m very excited to have put the first and second book in my London Darkness series on Goodreads! I think this will help me to get a general idea of who might be interesting in reading the books and things of that sort. I don’t have the cover art up yet, but the first book’s art is still in the works. However, I think it’s going to be fantastic! So, if you have a Goodreads I urge you to go mark them as “to-read!” Here’s the link for Infernal Inventions! ->http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...

This Vacation may be just what I Need

I’m currently writing this from a motel room, taking a break from the long drive to Florida. For those of you who are international readers, Florida is a sunny place with 80% of the population consisting of old retired people, in most places, anyway.

I’ll keep this post short. My activity will be a little less than usual, but I plan to get some serious writing done on my WIP as I gaze upon the setting sun and watch as the pink and orange colors wash over the evening sky. I may even be able to...

What Makes You Tick?

I believe that everyone has some sort of tick–or habit–they perform when they are writing. Whether you realize it or not, good or bad, I’m sure it’s there.

For me, I have a terrible habit of finishing a sentence of my WIP, going to Facebook or Twitter for two to three minutes, and then back to my WIP to write a few more sentences. I’m not sure why I do it. I think it may be because I don’t plan out my stories so I need those little breaks to figure out where that particular part of the story i...

Please, Don’t Lecture Me

I was having a discussion with Debon my author fan pageabout whether it was easier for us to write academic papers, or write fiction; and I mentioned how I wanted to teach a Creative Writing class at the college level in the future, just as a side job. While discussing this, I came across the discovery that when I teach students, I will refuse to use the lecture method.

I mean, how many times have we been forced to sit through classes where the teacher simply talks at us and reads from a slide...

Judging an Author by His or Her Cover

Everyone knows the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” But, we all do it. I do it. I won’t even pick up a book if I don’t like the cover; unless its name draws me in, or I love the author.

But, this post isn’t about book covers. I’m curious as to if you judge an author based on what he or she looks like. I’ve seen authors with many different physical appearances. Some are very neat and you always see them dress well, while others look like they spend all their time writing in mountains....