Max Ellendale's Blog, page 10
August 16, 2012
hanging up
I’m not yet fearless.
As a writer, I’ve failed this task. Fearlessness is something I’ve yet to tackle. This is, indubitably, my block when it comes to blogging, engaging in social networks and, I imagine, my writing. The echoes in my head vary little from Shawnee’s. Whenever I get an idea for a blog, a controversial story/essay/poem, the echoes have at it…
No one cares what you have to say.
You’ll offend someone.
They’ll hate you.
Nothing you do is good enough.
Unfortunately, we can’t offer you representation.
We loved it but…
Rejected.
Unworthy.
You belong under a rock.
You’re too fat to write. (what the hell??)
You’ll never be as good as…
You can’t compare to…
All those positive reviews mean nothing. They’re all lying.
And the list goes on. When writing genre fiction, I’m able to write around the echoes. In a way, my genre is my shelter and shield. When it comes to being me, Max (essentially), it’s hard to let myself out into the public domain. For a few reasons…
The worst: Some people who read my blog, books, or social networking posts know the person behind the pen name. They’ve brought topics of my writing/posting to the work place, school, parties, and other life events, which in essence, doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that I use a pseudonym for a reason and, as such, my pseudonym has a job to do. I’m an author, a writer, a mildly public figure. It is not your job to come to my place of work, school, life, and say “you can’t say stuff like that!” or “be careful what you say about…!” You know what I have to say back to that? I sure as hell can. Just because you have the privilege of knowing my pseudonym does not give you the right to dictate my actions outside of the forum in which we share functioning. You, my friend, ex-friend, coworker, family member et. al., have earned yourself a block or ban from my pages. Sadly, this is only a temporary fix. I, unfortunately, can’t ban you from my life. However, you’ve lost the privilege of being a part of my success and my failures.
This is just one contributing factor to my silence. I’ve allowed other people to silence me. And to my own detriment. It effects my promotion, marketing, spreading the word about my work, and connecting with the greater writing community. I’ve grown tired of the silence. I’m tired of others providing fuel for my echoes. I can’t let this happen anymore. I’m not sure how to stop this from effecting my voice and limiting my written freedom. I don’t know what potion will banish the anguish, but I’m willing to find out…
August 2, 2012
Testing out HootSuite…
Testing out HootSuite…
August 1, 2012
August 2012
It baffling to me that I’m already addressing August. This year is fleeting. Amidst times of turmoil here in America, I’ve forced myself to focus on my projects and career as a writer. It’s very easy to get caught up in the deep emotions brought on by the actions of others. In light of such, I’ve made a personal quest to draw positivity into my life.
An update on my projects: I’m anxiously awaiting the print release of Glyph! My Young Adult fantasy novel is presently in the query process and I’m actively soliciting agents. I’m taking it slow this time around and attempting exclusive submissions. Edits for Book 2 of the Legacy Series are also underway. My writing has evolved a lot since the initial completion of the drafts for this novel and thus the revision process is taking me longer than I expected. However, I’m a stickler for improvement and don’t mind this at all!
I’m working on another summer project… turning my spare room into a home office! It’s coming along slow and steady. DIY projects are always fun. It’s my hope to transform this room into space where I can focus and write.
That’s it for my August update! Stay cool in this exhausting East Coast heat! I’m presently awaiting a whopper of a storm. Loss of electricity is eminent these days.
Cheers!
Max
July 24, 2012
Promo stuffs.
This week’s contest will be promo items for Glyph and the Legacy Series aka… swag. *blinks* I never thought I’d say that word. Anyway, please check out Glyph! You never know when a question might come from a plot line! *grin*
Available on Amazon and a ton of other places including Breathless Press.
To enter, head over to Facebook and like my author page!
July 19, 2012
final draft
Whenever I finish a writing a book, and then of course the final draft, I’m left feeling lost. Like I can’t find my way and don’t know where to go next, even though I’m working on multiple projects. I go to this place of numbness. A numbness of letting go of the work that I know is about to go through innumerable torture. Rejection, more edits, more rejection, revisions, maybe acceptance and even after that, more changes. More loss. I find that, as I write more novel-length works, I do best focusing on one project at a time. I can do some short-story stuff and poetry at the same time, but one novel/series at a time seems best. My writing is more focused and clear, requiring less formatting in the end.
I still find blogging difficult. Honestly, I find the whole social networking thing difficult. I see the positive results of it, however, in my sales and growing fan-dom. Sometimes though, social networking feels like more work than the writing, editing, and submission process combined. Harsh! I do it though, because as a small-time writer, it’s important. Managing my website is much easier, and fun. Facebook is tolerable, Twitter is impossible to keep up with. I don’t mind Goodreads, Kindlegraph, or Amazon. They’re very tidy.
At this point, I’ve finished my YA fantasy manuscript. Submissions are underway. I’m going to take it slowly to start and follow the guidance of my mentors. I really hope it works out. I want very much to experience the traditional route of publishing. I’m hoping for the best.
With this, I’m now back fully working on the Legacy Series. I’m a bit behind schedule (not that I’m following any deadlines… I set strange schedules for myself). Book 2 is fully written and well into the drafting process. I’m thinking about changing the title as I think it’s too common in the paranormal genre, but that will come in time.
Cheers!
Max
July 10, 2012
if you can’t handle what I say…
then you can’t handle what I write.
test post
using a new blog platform. let’s see how this goes.
Technorati Tags: vampires,werewolves,witches,paranormal,romance
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