Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 8

Human

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Three eBooks to dive into The Macrocosm
Monthly Short Stories in Written and Audiobook Format
Access to drafts, works-in-progress, and writing updates
High Rez Short Story Artwork for Phone Backgrounds
Your name in the thank you section of the next Macrocosm short story collection
Access to The Macrocosm Wiki

You're basically buying me a drink every month, fueling me to craft more stories!

Let's not forget you will get a copy of the Into the Macrocosm eBook to jump-start you into this strange world of fantasy, horror, thrillers, scifi, and bizarre.To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon at $5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

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Simon Rose Interviews Konn Lavery about Beyond the Macrocosm

I’m pleased to be back on Simon Rose’s blog! It’s been a few years since he and I chatted about my work. He graciously offered to have me on his site to discuss my latest release, Beyond the Macrocosm.

Read the InterviewWe cover:A Choose Your Path Collection Descends Readers into Konn Lavery���s MacrocosmThank you for joining us, Konn. Tell us about Beyond the Macrocosm.That���s quite a lot! What made you want to write an interactive book?What makes you say that?Do readers have to read the first collection before Beyond the Macrocosm?Care to share what Transmedia Storytelling is?What���s next for you and the Macrocosm?

Check it out on Simon Rose’s Blog!

The post Simon Rose Interviews Konn Lavery about Beyond the Macrocosm appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Back to Old

I thought June was the shortest month of the year. It turns out I’m wrong, and it’s just like any other regular month, duh. Time distortion is real; despite February being the shortest, it feels a lot longer than June. Likely it’s because more is going on in the spring and summer, especially since we’re going back to old ways as the pandemic goes full force into an endemic.

Welcome to Another Edition of Unprocessed Thoughts.

June creeps up to the release of Beyond the Macrocosm on July first. It is a soft launch like Into the Macrocosm. In the theme of going back to old world ways, this Unprocessed Thoughts is simply focused on what happened this month and not insights ��� yay narcissism! There was a convention I was at, lots of design work, personal milestones, and writing promoting which kept me busy. Let���s dive into it.

What’s New

We will keep it nice and short because no one likes to hear someone talk about themselves all the time. So, to give you an understanding of what has occurred, here’s a quick rundown of everything:

Preparing for Beyond the Macrocosm soft launchScheduling interviewsScheduling advanced review copiesPreparing all media, including press kit, website, and preordersContinual marketing through reader magnets and promotion groups from the existing catalogue of novelsHeavy writing of my WIP: Crystal Moths Ash Series Book 1Preparing for the Calgary Horror ConCalgary Horror Con 2022

That’s right, I went to my very first convention since 2019. We are back to the old, with this minor blip into the past. The weekend was full of highway driving, setting up the booth, enjoying an evening of comedy, and then going full force into convention mode.

I must say, I was rusty at the beginning after two and a half years. Setting up took longer but not entirely out of memory, and the initial sales pitch and cash transaction were sloppy on my end. Who knew that those little Square readers needed software updates? I didn’t; thankfully, I sorted it out, and old habits returned shining.

The convention’s enthusiasm was magnetic and uplifting. Everyone missed the experience. Vendors, guests, and attendees were excited to see everyone there. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to partake in after being away for so long. Of course, I’m a fan of the horror genre and catching up with old friends and meeting new faces is always a good time.

I was amazed at the number of people who came to find my booth after purchasing books in previous years from 2016 to 2019. All the isolation time allowed people to read books, and they came back hungry for what was new. The thirsty readers resulted in selling out of all of my new books along with final prints of old editions.

The positivity of the convention is heartening, and despite being completely exhausted, I feel refuelled. I am out of shape from this routine and have no idea how I did it before. Pre-covid, it was just about a convention every second month. The driving, fast-paced time scheduling, setting up, running the booth, tearing down, heading home, and picking up contract work on Monday is unfathomable to me. Truthfully, I have no idea how I did it. Somehow I did, and that portion of me stays in the old.

Second Agenda

The Calgary Horror Con was a great opportunity for me to move a lot of old book stock from 2019. The boxes sat in the closet over the pandemic and desperately needed readers. There’s a hidden personal agenda about why the books were so cheap at the convention. I needed to lighten the load for a significant life change at the end of August.

Ta-dah! The cat is out of the bag. I’m heading out of Alberta at the end of summer. Everyone at the horror convention heard about it, and everyone I know is aware of the big move out West. I’ve hinted at it previously in other Unprocessed Thoughts, and now everything is in full force. Somehow through the ever-increasing growth of my design business, releasing a new book, writing a new one, and everything else that life has to throw at you, we’re moving provinces.

The following two months here are a crunch in preparation. We’ve been purging, donating, cleaning, and organizing. Thankfully the move is intentional and not last-minute, so I can plan and work around massive design projects and book releases.

Back to Old

Whether we like it or not, it is an endemic, and we must learn to live with where the world is going. I was nervous during the Calgary Horror Con but made it to the other side. Even though everything has been new and changing since the fateful 2020, some things have gone back to old. The convention spirit is alive and well, and I’m pleased to have partaken in such an event.

Who knows where things will go with the migration West, but I hope to do more conventions in the future. Immediately my writing goals are staying in the new ��� meaning e-books and online are the main focus which will give me more time to write and reach a broader geographical reader base.

I can’t say for sure when my next convention will be, but it will come eventually. Until then, I’ll catch you all online.

Beer Note: Alley Kat Zephyr

I had the local brewery Alley Kat’s Zephyr for this month’s Unprocessed Thoughts. The Rosemary, as seen on the can, is a great addition. It fills the beer with some interesting after tones that are admired over a summer evening. Unfortunately, the convention kicked my ass, and I only had one beer and called it a night. I’ll save more drinks for another time.

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Konn Lavery Calgary Horror Con 2022

This year is my first convention since 2019. I will be at the 2022 Calgary Horror Con on June 25-26 to sign books! I also have other swag, such as artwork and t-shirts I’ve designed, inspired by my books at the booth. My table will be at The Rocky Mountain Room at booth 8.

For you horror buffs, they have guests:

Billy ZaneLisa ZaneJames Jude CourtneyShawnee SmithAndrew DivoffQuinn LordJoe Bog BriggsDarcey the Mail GirlRichard BrakeAmelia KinkadeJeff Daniel PhillipsGrab Your Ticket!

Stoked to see you all there!

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3Q���s Steve Stred ��� Konn Lavery ��� Symbolic Megalomaniac?

I’m pleased to be on fellow Edmonton Horror author Steve Stred’s 3Q’s! Check out the interview:

Read Interview

We chat about music and writing, covering:

What does your writing time look like? Do you try and write at the same time each day? Do you have a word count you attempt to hit?Out of all your releases, do you have a favorite character you���ve written?Tell me about your newest release (novel/story/poem/novella) and why someone should read it!Bonus Question! What is your favorite album?Steve Stred’s Horror Novel MastodonSteve Stred is the Splatterpunk Nominated Author of ‘Sacrament’ and ‘Mastodon.’

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Steve has released over a dozen novels, novellas and collections. He has appeared alongside some of horror’s biggest names within some truly excellent anthologies.

He is a proud co-founder of the LOHF Writer’s Grant and an Active Member of the HWA.

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Rave: Third Place & Finalist

I am thrilled to announce that my slasher novel, Rave, placed third in the Horror category of the 2022 eLit Book Awards.

The book was also nominated as a finalist for the 2022 Book Excellence Awards.

All of this is quite timely since the book’s one year anniversary was in May.

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Blood Will: Part IV

Want to read this?

Click Here to Join Konn's Patreon Today

Konn's Popular Membership:
Monthly Short Stories + eBook for $5/mo CAD
$0.16 a day.



Three eBooks to dive into The Macrocosm
Monthly Short Stories in Written and Audiobook Format
Access to drafts, works-in-progress, and writing updates
High Rez Short Story Artwork for Phone Backgrounds
Your name in the thank you section of the next Macrocosm short story collection
Access to The Macrocosm Wiki

You're basically buying me a drink every month, fueling me to craft more stories!

Let's not forget you will get a copy of the Into the Macrocosm eBook to jump-start you into this strange world of fantasy, horror, thrillers, scifi, and bizarre.To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon at $5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Blood Will: Part IV appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Telus StoryHive Edmonton Interview EP4 with Konn Lavery

I’m pleased to share that I was interviewed on Telus’s StoryHive by the 2022 Summer Crew 3 in Edmonton!

Listen to the interview on Telus StoryHive’s website.

We talk about my writing, creative process, the various books, and my love for transmedia storytelling.

Thanks to Keys 2 the City YEG crew for having me.

Enjoy!

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Chiselling Away at Writing Vs Burst Sessions

Chiselling away at writing bests burst sessions over a long time. You’d be amazed at what a little bit per day will do vs doing burst sessions and taking breathers in-between. This is your classic tortoise versus the hare scenario. As great as it is to have massive burst sessions, we all can’t block out hours a day to focus on writing. I’ve preached many times on the blog about keeping momentum while writing. Today we will elaborate more by chiselling away at writing vs bursting through it.

Welcome to Another Edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

I love dedicating portions of a day or an entire day to writing. It is liberating to focus on nothing else but the story. You can power through big chunks of the manuscript this way and string it all together with a clear mind. It gives you a greater sense of focus because your mind isn’t being thrown in many different directions. That’s not always possible throughout the week, especially if you juggle a full-time job or personal commitments.

Chiselling away at writing has far more strength in this realm. It’s another way to describe what every author I know does: write a little bit every day. You will be amazed at how quickly it adds up after a week. Take it one step further and let a couple months go by, and before you know it, you’ve tackled major milestones with your writing. So, how do you do it?

Stay Organised

Some people love organization; personally, I don’t. It seems to be a means to an end. The perks are so crucial to my world that I stay pretty organized in my graphic design business and writing. If I don’t do it, everything behaves like a collapsing tower of Jenga. I have a blog post dedicated to keeping organized while writing found here.

The small sessions are low commitment and give a small return, meaning you don’t get far with the tiny steps when looking at a single day of chiselling away. For example, if you only spend a 15-minute or 30-minute sessions, you’ve only done a tiny bit. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes to finally get into the groove of the writing, then before you know it, you have to go back to some other task or move on. This can be solved by . . .

Keeping Notes

Your future self will love you if you write things down. After all, you are a writer. This should come as second nature. Keeping notes also applies to other art mediums as well. The methods will vary for each person depending on how they like to be reminded of things. Some people love colour-coated sticky notes. I personally do not. I’ve digitized most of my working documents for projects because otherwise, I would have mountains of paper covering every corner of my apartment.

Notes can be as simple as a few lines. They should be to jolt your memory, not provide an essay. Trust your mind to be triggered when seeing the key phrase on your note. On the flip side, as Stephen King has said, notes are a great way to keep bad ideas. At the moment, something might sound like a billion-dollar idea that will push your book to be a top seller. A few months down the road, it might be pretty poor after some reflection. Good, scrap it and move in.

Chiselling Away at Writing Reveals a Sculpture

Small sessions over a long period let you reflect upon the work and see it every day. The counter to this method is it’s not effective when it comes to timelines. If you must have a manuscript by a specific date, this method only goes so far. If you have self-set goals, which are difficult for many people to commit to, this is where chiselling away at writing is compelling. You have a low commitment every day, plugging away at it.

Here is another analogy: it’s like letting a garden grow, planting a seed, watering it and enjoying the fruits of your labour months down the road. This is, of course, if you remain consistent. It’s a bland, unexciting truth about finishing a manuscript in small daily sessions.

What About Motivation?

What about it? In all honesty, motivation and inspiration seem to be the same mishmash of fluff that I don’t really look at. Coming from a graphic design background, I’ve become familiar with being a creative professional on demand. You do not have the luxury of being inspired or motivated. You must produce whether you like it are not to meet that deadline and get paid. This is where creative problem-solving comes into play, and you follow a proven process that repeatedly works to reach the end creative project.

For example, I start with dozens of thumb sketches on paper playing with ideas (like a book premise) with a logo. Then I take only the best thumb sketches and digitize them into many black and white logo variations. These are broken down into 3 to 4 basic concepts that I share with the client. The chosen concept is refined, with colour applied, and finalizes the logo. This process has worked for me for well over a decade. There have been many times when I don’t want to design logos, but I know it’s part of my job. Thus, I trust the creative process.

The same philosophy can be applied to writing by following a consistent method. Chiselling away at writing every day works in the same way. That’s not much fun, is it? Unfortunately, a lot of work is still work, regardless of whether you enjoy the medium. In a perfect world, we would only do things we like to do, but we cannot do that if we want to get somewhere.

Burnout

I’ve tackled project burnout in a previous blog post. Still, I want to bring it up again because chiselling away at writing will reduce the amount of project burnout you experience. Again, burst sessions are incredible, and if we could all do them all the time, that would be fantastic. This method is dangerously close to the road of burning out, and then you’re out of commission for weeks, if not months.

We’re Not Unique

We’re not, really. You’d be amazed at how our emotions are identical to each other. Different things trigger them, yes, except creativity. We all go through slums and have the same internal emotions about our creative outlets. Those that buckle down and work through the creative problems end up with a finished project that they can take to the next phase.

For example, I’ve been heavily bogged down with design work all year, and truthfully it feels like my year is just starting now as we reach the end of May. I consistently wrote every morning before starting the rest of my daily routine. The repetition let me complete Beyond the Macrocosm, my upcoming choose your own path short story collection. I also outlined an entirely new book for a new series which I am now writing the first draft of. While that’s been going on, the Patreon, the blog, and the newsletter have been consistently released every month. It’s thanks to chiselling away at writing, whether I like it or not.

So be kind to yourself, do small sessions consistently over several months, and you will be amazed at what you end up with.

Beer Note: Spectrum Beer co. Hot Pink Lemonade Sour

For this month, I tried Spectrum Beer co. Hot Pink Lemonade Sour. This is a relatively light 5% alcohol volume beer, which was a bit of a shock at first. Usually, if they say sour in today’s market, it’s prune-face level sour. The lightness was refreshing on a warm day. With the low alcohol level, I enjoyed too many of these in the sun.

The post Chiselling Away at Writing Vs Burst Sessions appeared first on Konn Lavery.

Blood Will: Part III

Want to read this?

Click Here to Join Konn's Patreon Today

Konn's Popular Membership:
Monthly Short Stories + eBook for $5/mo CAD
$0.16 a day.



Three eBooks to dive into The Macrocosm
Monthly Short Stories in Written and Audiobook Format
Access to drafts, works-in-progress, and writing updates
High Rez Short Story Artwork for Phone Backgrounds
Your name in the thank you section of the next Macrocosm short story collection
Access to The Macrocosm Wiki

You're basically buying me a drink every month, fueling me to craft more stories!

Let's not forget you will get a copy of the Into the Macrocosm eBook to jump-start you into this strange world of fantasy, horror, thrillers, scifi, and bizarre.To view this content, you must be a member of Konn's Patreon at $5 or more - Click "Read more" to unlock this content at the source

The post Blood Will: Part III appeared first on Konn Lavery.