C.A. Sanders's Blog, page 23

New Articles in “Writing Class”

As some of you know, I did a presentation this week on The Hero’s Journey and how it’s for all genres because it’s about character transformation, not plot. This morning I took the notes from that presentation and put them on my website for all to enjoy. Here’s the lecture, andHere’s the character worksheet that went with it. I hope that it helps some of you out there.

Enjoy, and happy writing.

CAS

Conference Excitement

Two weeks ago I was asked to give a presentation on The Hero’s Journey for Indie Authors Day at the Tivoli Library, near Bard College and about two hours north of me. I thought, “that’s great, I love doing workshops, and I love talking about The Hero’s Journey. A presentation is more like a lecture, but maybe I can jazz it up to my normal style. And it’s just in time to prepare people for NaNoWriMo.” Even though it’s not at Bard, its mere proximity had a special influence on me. I was accepte...

Kindle 99 Cent Sale!

I’m running a short promotion for the first half of October.The Watchmage of Old New York is only 99 cents for Kindle! If you like historical fantasy, mysteries, and weirdness, you’ll love this book!

Here’s the back page blurb:

It is 1855, and Nathaniel Hood walks between two worlds.

As the Watchmage of New York City, Nathaniel is charged with protecting, regulating, and administering justice to the myriad supernatural beings immigrating to the city. When his policeman son, Jonas, is brutall...

Trying Desperately to Stay Quiet

The reason that I haven’t blogged much lately is that I promised to post less about politics. I’ve been consumed by politics, both the presidential and local elections.

I am also putting together a proposal for electoral reform, centered around:

–Increasing the number of states (hopefully all) legalizing Electoral Fusion, which was once widespread but was squeezed out by the larger parties in the late 19th century. Only eight states have it right now.

–Expanding the use of absentee ballots (f...

Review: My Life In Reverse

My Life in Reverse, by Casey Harvell

Not only is this a great read, but it’s a very important book that explores an abusive relationship and finding the strength to escape it. It’s one of those books that everyone should read. We all know someone in this kind of situation and how frustrating it can be to watch them suffer, terrified and manipulated into thinking that they deserve it. The antagonist husband fits the role of Sociopathic Narcissism perfectly, with added twists (like heroin addic...

New Review For Watchmage!

Getting reviews is painful. There’s the struggle to actually get the review, as most readers don’t bother to review the book (even though that’s the best thing that they can do for an author). The other is the fear from putting yourself out there for critique and the knowledge that a bad review can sink a book’s sales. In fact, many reviewers and other authors will give their competitors 1 star reviews out of spite. That makes me so angry that my eyebrows furrow into one Uberbrow (the Uberbr...

The Get Down and Me

Netflix continues to make better shows than anything on the networks or cable. They’re killing it with the Marvel series, the Voltron reboot was excellent, and Stranger Things is just straight up amazing. They continue this winning streak with Baz Lurhmann’s new project, The Get Down.

For those that don’t know,The Get Down is about a talented young wordsmith, Ezekiel, torn between wanting to follow his music and feeling pressure to go to college and get out of the South Bronx, pretty much th...

Writer’s Block

Whenever I start a new novel, I get writer’s block. I always feel like I’m slogging through mud in a swamp where I can’t see the sun. Or maybe it’s more like walking through three feet of snow while wearing only a Speedo. Either way, it sucks.

It’s a bit harder this time because I am trying to pants the story more than usual. Yes, it’s the third Watchmage novel, so I already know where it’s going, but I want it to be a very different journey from the serial. All of the novels have been diff...

The Joy of Writing (With Bob Ross)

Hey all,

Here’s a new article for my “Writing Class” series. I’ve referenced Bob Ross in some of my live classes before, but after rewatching the series, I finally wrote something more thorough down. Hope you enjoy.

I wanted to paint like Bob Ross. I used to watch his show, The Joy of Painting, every day after school. He fascinated me, and there was nothing more relaxing after a hard day at school than listeni…

Source: The Joy of Writing (With Bob Ross)

Pardons

Pardon my absence. I recently started writing the third novel in the Watchmage Chronicles, not to mention my daily excursions hunting the elusive pokemon (my calves are killing me). Every time I want to blog, I end up working on the novel.

So where’s the second book? I decided that I acted in a rash manner when I eschewed an agent and self-published. I was angry at the way my publisher was treating my first novel, and the “agents” that came forward to represent me were obvious scams. Not to m...