Pete Sutton's Blog, page 27

Reviews - The Discoverability Challenge

At the beginning of the year Joanne Hall invited me to take part in her discoverability challenge as I'd commented on how few women I'd read in 2015. There's all sorts of data that shows that publishing is skewed towards men so it is important to make a conscious effort to read more women. The essence of the challenge is to read a female writer new to me at least once per month.

So it was with delight that I saw that NewCon Press, as part of their decade in publishing celebrations, were publishing two new anthologies with all women contributors.



Obsidian: A decade of horror

and



Digital Dreams: A decade of SF

I immediately requested copies...

Included in both anthologies were names that I'd been meaning to get around to reading, and what better way to see if they were for me than to sample a short story by them. But the names that I didn't know I needed to read were just as valuable a find.,

Digital Dreams has stories from Pat Cadigan, Kim Lakin-Smith, Heather Bradshaw, Sarah Singleton, Jaine Fenn, Una McCormick, Lauren Beukes, Tricia Sullivan, Nina Allen, Ruth Booth (an award winning story no less), Justina Robson, Rachel Armstrong, EJ Swift and Rebecca J Payne.

From space opera, to futuristic war, to new technology to a fear of flying. There's something to interest any SF fan. My personal favourite in this collection was The Crepuscular Hunter by EJ Swift  - a very well-crafted dark tale of involuntary disconnection. I'd also highlight The Honey Trap by Ruth Booth and Collateral Damage by Jaine Fenn although, to be clear there weren't many that didn't hit the spot in this collection.

Of even more interest to me was Obsidian, since I've been getting back into horror recently. This has stories in by Sarah Pinborough, Liz Williams, Marie O'Regan, Kari Sperring, Tanith Lee, Kelly Armstrong, Alison Littlewood, Molly Brown, Donna Scott, Susan Sinclair, Lisa Tuttle, Emma Coleman, Maura McHugh and Laura Munro.

Donna Scott's tale of Grimoire's in The Grimoire was very clever and a must-read for any book lover, the Underfog by Tanith Lee and On the Grey Road by Alison Littlewood were both very good, the first being about wreckers and the second about Scottish folklore. Sarah Pinborough's Did you see? ticked all the right boxes for me. Maura McHugh's tale Valerie will stay with me for a while, and I won't look at rubber fetish gear the same way ever again! and Lisa Tuttle's Paul's Mother was really quite disturbing.

overall - it's obvious that NewCon have great taste and these collections showcase a lot of talent. I now have a longer list of names to look out for at the bookshop... and I read many female writers who were new to me.

If you can only afford to buy one of these books - borrow some money so you can get both!

Recommended.

Hodderscape Open Submissions

http://hodderscape.co.uk/open-submissions-jan-2016-update/

So – my MS made it through the first cull. 600 to read a second time! Wow

Book Reviews

You may remember this blog post from summer last year

- http://brsbkblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/so-what-about-those-reviews.html

when I pretty much gave up on reviews. You may not, the TL:DR version is that I pretty much gave up on reviews...

So - onto 2016:

I found that not writing reviews doesn't help me think critically about books, about writing and about the craft of writing. So I'm going to attempt to write reviews again.

But!

One of the reasons I stopped reviewing is that a review takes some brain time, even if it's short, and some writing time. And writing time, I thought, would be better applied to, well, my own writing.

And then my writing tailed off (i think mostly due to other writing like activities - editing, reading slush piles, interviews etc.) But maybe, just maybe, there is a correlation. I sometimes used to write reviews as a warming up exercise and I think that I've missed that.

Towards the end of the blog post above I said - "I would like to use the books I read to cogitate on matters and, as my thoughts are clarified when writing, my cogitations will make their way on to these pages."

I think what I need to do is find something that's cogitate-worthy (that's a word now, live with it) in most everything I read.

I also got overwhelmed by the number of ARCs I was getting & so my decision was to only do one a month - I'm also amending that. I'll review ARCs when they've grabbed my attention and are "good enough" (interesting, shiny etc) to bump another book - as that TBR is still growing (14 books for Xmas & Bday and an extra book that I bought specifically for holiday... )

If you want to follow my LT challenge this year it's over here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/20... (but a lot of it is just repeating things I review here) & I'll definitely be sharing thoughts about the discoverability challenge...

Guest post - The Horrors of Writing by JM Thorne

JM Thorne is the author of the literary horror novella, Watching, written as part of the creative piece during a masters degree in creative writing. Stories have been written in other genres, such as speculative fiction, and romance, and have been published in the US, UK and Australia. Currently enrolled in a PhD candidate in creative writing, the genre now of focus is a gritty historical family saga, where there is bound to be hints of horror. Soon there will be another story in the world of Watching. 
Watching by JM Thorneavailable at Smashwords and Amazon

"They come to see us bleed." Captured by aliens, Roo is bled to near death in performances for their viewing pleasure. His survival depends on how long he can last during his time on the stage. The longer he performs the greater the chance he has to succeed in turning others against the aliens. But that's not easy when you have to perform each night in a show that bleeds you close to death.
You can follow her on Twitter @jmthorne29 & visit her website here




The Horrors of Writing by JM Thorne
I was never quite prepared for how difficult the journey is to get published. A few years ago as a newbie writer the biggest warning I got from published authors was not to quit my day job – I already had. The knot of dread began to twist in my stomach, but I told myself I could do this. I just had to keep writing. I was told on numerous occasions by published authors, editors, and publishing houses that even in the changing market to digital books authors could make a living from their writing. So, filled with determination, enough to sink a battle ship, off I went to earn from my art, ignoring the knot of dread in my belly. But despite publications, and many were just for the ‘honour’ of getting your work out into the world, reality kicked in. I returned to my day job part time so I still could have some days where I could write and not starve in the meantime. I didn’t feel a failure, because I was, still am, getting work published, it just wasn’t the fairy tale I had hoped for and perhaps my expectations weren’t grounded in reality based on the contemporary market of publishing.
So what were some of the horrors for me? And do they still exist.
The main genre that seems to come out in my writing, especially at those times when my mind balances between the conscious and unconscious, and I slip into a magical space of creativity, is horror. My stories have a natural tendency to go down the path of the dark side. I don’t know why. I’ve tried to work it out since I haven’t read or watched a lot of horror, but this genre certainly marks my works beyond my control. It seems to ooze out easily like a cut on the skin, the blood my ink and the flow of story is strong. Then I discovered how difficult it was to get horror published, and how niche the market is. It’s important to know who your audience is. But I did it back to front, and wrote the story, then did my market research. It was a good lesson to learn.
While I kept getting off the slush pile with Watchingwith big publishing houses, full manuscript requested and there was genuine interest in the story, it ended in silence from the other end, with me assuming that the interest was short lived. I was a lost soul in the forest, scrambling to get out of the dark and trying to find a place for my story in the world. I tried writing in other genres, pulling my stories out of the shadows, or damp caves where my inspiration lingered. But it was just as hard to find a home for my stories. It was also a very slow process. It could take up to eighteen months before my story would be published. And there I found my answer.
Getting published was hard work.
Once I had a story published it was even harder not to focus on the sales and be consumed by how well the story would sell. After all, I had quit my day job. During some deep reflection I found a way forward, which was to return to the basics, back to what I loved the most – writing stories. Off I went to write the next story because that is ultimately what I enjoy the most.
I had been changed. While I had tried to make writing my sole focus in my life (well at least one of the biggest after family and friends), I came face to face with another monster. I wasn’t going to die if I didn’t write. Nor was I going to fall into the Abyss and be lost forever if I didn’t write everyday. Plus it was also important to get out with fellow writers and chew the fat, and moan and groan, and realise that you aren’t alone in this journey. And so I changed my focus. I returned to my day job, which not only brought in much needed money and eased the knot of dread in my stomach, but also gave me a more grounded perspective and stopped me thinking that the world was a room with just me, my computer, and dogs at my feet.
This leads me to the final horror. Writing is very lonely. It was great at the start just me and the characters in the worlds I was building. Considering I was finding some dark characters, like one who tore wings from living creatures to make her own, a world where aliens came to see humans bleed, and a shopping mall where you can buy skins, I couldn’t help wonder if spending days upon days alone was really a healthy thing to be doing. I realised I needed to get back out in real life. As much as I enjoyed spending time with my twisted characters with their dark hearts, I needed to see family and friends more often, do workshops, exercise, walk along the beach and get a hobby (other than reading). Because it’s all of these outer factors which subconsciously feed my stories and create characters in my mind. Plus I had already learnt that getting published is hard, being a successful author takes time, and at the end of the day if I don’t write I won’t die.

I made peace with the horrors I’d met, and while I keep writing, I do spend more time closing my lap top, pushing the characters away in mind for later. After all, I don’t want to be facing horrors when writing I want to be having fun.

First book of the year - and it's a leftfield one

Spoiler - It's a Piers Morgan book



The tagline to this book reads - "Guns, Gays, God and George Clooney"

This was a present, I need to stress that right? I unwrapped this on Christmas day and thought - wuh?

But turns out that the gifter knew more about me than I thought - it was a compelling read, in a way, and repulsive too.

Morgan comes across exactly as you'd expect. There is somtheing amphibious or even mollusc-like about Morgan. His rampant ego, his superciliousness, the fact that he was the editor of the News of the World, the company he keeps. He's a huge fan of the royals, and Trump (except I wonder what he'd think about him now - the book was written in 2013) and literally fawns over Murdoch.

And for the first half of the book this was the car-crash entertainment of reading about him in his own words. He thinks he's being self-depreciating but it's not even vaguely funny (apparently Yanks don't get his weird English humour... well it's not just Yanks really) and not in the realms of humble brag, since there is a lot of just plain old-style playground bragging in there too. The book has naff all to do with George Clooney by the way, he's just one of the many names Piers feels he needs to say are his friends. It impresses me as much as a cab driver saying "I had that bloke from Eastenders in my cab once" - interviewing people is his job. He gets to go to parties where the rich and famous hang out, of course he's going to meet celebrities.

It's about him taking over from Larry King on CNN and written in 2010-2013, it'd be interesting to see how things have changed in the last couple of years I think.

When building his team at CNN some of King's people don't want to work with him - which is understandable.

"I suspected the hand of Wendy Walker, Larry's long-time producer, and erupted in anger in an email to Jonathan (his manager).

'Right,' I wrote. 'Fuck them. Let's go to war. Wendy and her coterie have wasted enough of our time.'
'I think you "Replied All", so they'll get the message loud and clear,' he wrote back."

There is a "Oh God I didn't" but no thought as to how hurtful that could have been...

There's a section on the phone hacking scandal, and how Rebekah Brooks is such a wonderful person unfairly treated, how in fact the whole tabloid industry is unfairly treated. Then he watches as Murdoch, who he absolutely gushes over, is giving evidence -

"... a protestor ran forward and tried to hit him with a custard pie. Rupert's young wife, Wendi, sprang from her chair and punched the guy. It was a magnificently quick, gutsy reaction. I was still laughing about it an hour later... "

There are also some interesting insights into the way the establishment has co-opted the 4th estate, which should hold them to account, not cosy up to them.

This bit on Gordon Brown especially -

"Gordon Brown is in LA to make some speeches, so Celia (Morgan's wife) and I had dinner with him and his wife Sarah tonight.

'Where are you watching the football match tomorrow?' he asked as the bill arrived. Arsenal, the team I've supported since I was a boy, were playing a big match.
'My place, want to join me?'
'That would be great'"

And so he does - I know Brown is no longer PM at that point, but isn't it a bit weird to be so friendly with a journalist? This is also what's wrong with Cameron having Coulson as his communications guy and being such good friends with Brooks. It's insidious.

A later episode, he just can't help brag about Prime Ministers he's met and talked to, is to do with the Queen. His gushing praise is so smarmy it is truly nauseous. However irritating it is to this republican to be told that anyone against the royal marriage (William and Kate) didn't understand the true meaning of royalty (spit) that's not the telling part:

"But if you ask me what the queen's most important 'point' is, I would say it's the weekly meeting she has with her prime minister.
I spoke to three of them - Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown - about these encounters ... [They each go on to praise the Queen's wisdom, experience and intelligence. Brown said she'd "never hesitate to challenge me on something if she didn't agree"]
I suspect a lot more British government policy is decided over a cup of tea in those meetings than in any cabinet meeting."

And there, in a nutshell, is a major problem with the monarchy. They have a huge influence on policy. In private. With no accountability. Just because they were born to it. But this is no place for a republican rant!

But then there are signs of a turning point - there are a few mass shootings that he's sort of vaguely aware of and baffled by the average American's reaction to. But then his daughter is born and there is the Sandy Hook school shooting and suddenly he's all over gun control like a randy dog on a visitor's leg. With as much subtlety and as welcome.

But! He actually makes good points and puts them across intelligently (in this writing - I can't really attest to how it came across on the show, this is in his own words after all) and persists in pushing for gun control on his show, despite, to some extent (the method, not the cause itself), it being against the wishes of his editor and manager.

I mean, he continues to hustle for ratings, he continues to name drop and brag (it sounds like he was all over Clinton like a rash, one caught in embarrassing circumstances too) but he does stick to his guns (pun intended) on the issue. It's nice to see someone being principled, but on Morgan it's a little weird. But good on him.

Sadly it kind of fizzles out - there is no crowning moment (he tries for that for an award he wins from an anti-gun organisation) but the book just kind of stops. The show was cancelled in 2014 - I'd have liked Morgan to write about it start to finish - but then he didn't know in 2013 that it'd be cancelled (probably) although ratings were plummeting and possibly the gun control stuff was his downfall?

As far as the prose goes, Morgan, being a former journo, can write good copy and it's a very easy read.

First book appearance in 2016

I have a story (Roadkill) in The Speculative Book  which is launching on the 8th January in Glasgow. Sadly I can’t make it to the launch but hope it all goes well.

Looking forward to my copy arriving…

Happy New Year

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It's 2016!

As usual BRSBKBLOG will be doing a category challenge over on Librarything 

No clever theme this year, just an attempt to read everything that enters the house in 2016 AND tackle the surplus of books from former years.

Back onto doing reviews (as and when) too - there was a raft of ARCs and review copies from people in the business I know, and I found it difficult to a) keep up and b) say positive things about all of them (sorry, but it's true) so that put me in a book review slump.

As you can see from the LT Challenge I've taken up the gauntlet of Jo Hall's Discoverability Challenge

It should be easy to acquire & read 1 book a month from a woman writer new to me, right? (suggestions welcome)

If you want to keep up on my own writing exploits I'm aiming to add a blog section to my other website http://petewsutton.com/ there's a bunch of books coming out this year which have stories in by me!

First up is the Speculative Bookshop Book with a launch event in Glasgow on the 8th January. Sadly I cannot make it but if you're in the area you should drop in anyway!

Bristol Book Blog Book Wrap Up

2015 book totals:

125 books read of which 14 were unfinished (up on the 94 read in 2014, evidence also of the fact that novel number two has not finished being written in 2015, whereas novel number one was written in 2014) - I generally know within 50 pages (sometimes less) if I'm going to finish a book. Sometimes they are unfinished because they are bad, but most often it's because it's just not the right book at that time and a few will be added back to the TBR pile to come back round in a year or two.

There were 27 Brilliant rated books (11 of which was the Unwritten series by Mike Carey) these are:



The Unwritten Series (volume 1-11) - individually perhaps one or two of them wouldn't have made it to the Brilliant list but most are superlative storytelling and overall this is a very satisfying series and one I'd highly recommend to book lovers.



This is a classic, and rightly so. If you are at all interested in comics you should read this.



If you'd like to know what the UK would be like eternally stuck in the 1970' then this is for you. Check out the website here



In HULK CAPITALS or wimpy Bruce Banner lowercase this is well worth reading if you are at all interested in films and how they should be written. You can check out Hulk's website here & he writes reviews here



Powerful and beautiful writing Highly recommended



This was a review copy and is an epic noir poem riffing off Dante - it didn't sound like it would work. It was brilliant. Unsung Stories are also a very nice little publisher.



This was a raw experience and a very interesting reading journey into mental health issues.



Boy Robert Jackson Bennett can write, that makes me green with envy...



Another beautifully written poetic prose book



I think you have to be in the right mood for this book, luckily I was


I did say he could write. Check him out.



Could possibly be a little too pretentious on the philosophy but fascinating nonetheless, and with great photographs



Really interesting examination of what it would be like if animals could not only think, but communicate too



What is the true cost of building a dirt cheap toaster?



This is just brilliant. Read it. That is all.



This is a monster of a book. Every page crammed with interesting facts and insights. If you are at all interested in the built environment then you should check this out.



A man is arrested and consigned to a mental institute as a method for the police to avoid their paperwork. His institutionalisation is the subject of this amazing book.

I read 16 books by women. That's still shockingly low! Must do better than 12% next year - I hope to double that and read 25%

72 paperback
2 hardback
27 Graphic Novels
22 e-books
2 audio books

That's it from Bristol Book Blog for 2015....

That was 2015 - what to expect in 2016

Today I wished a friend goodbye for the final time. David J Rodger was cremated today. It just doesn't seem real.

Usually my end of year wrap up is celebratory and optimistic but today's mood isn't suitable.

But I need to wrap up, and I do find that there are lots of things to be grateful for. There will be a separate "books from 2015" post next week...

I published two books:

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North by Southwest  - the first anthology by North Bristol Writers

and



Former Heroes  - the second anthology from Far Horizons Magazine.

Far Horizons is still going strong - and approaching a second birthday & I've been writing a serial for it, which has had some nice feedback - Tales for the Ferryman

I had a story in Fossil Lake 2




I've been reviewing books and interviewing folk for Urban Fantasy Magazine



I performed at the last ever Small Stories (David was on the same bill)



And performed at Let me tell you a story Jack

I went to the Kitschies awards and Nick Harkaway asked me to introduce him to SFX Dave!

I ran a Horror Wrioting competition and three submissions - Far Horizons Forever Hungry & Fantastically Horny anthologies and Sick City Syndrome - having been busy with reading for them, my reviews kind of tailed off...

I went to Archipelacon and moderated a panel on comics as well as did a talk on "Dark Fiction" - scary and fun!

I got to interview Karin Tidbeck - always nice to meet your literary heroines! (Jagannath is amazing)

I was at Nine Worlds, as a punter for the first time, no panels, no readings, just relaxation (no such thing at a Con) - they need to fix their attendance for next year so it's not so packed!

I was at BristolCon again, which was awesome again - so nice that one of the friendliest, best run Cons is right on my doorstep.

Got a story accepted for Sproutlings



 Which has led to more Australian opportunities (news to share next year!)

Bristol Festival of Literature was back - with a great program which included me adapting a Jonathan L Howard story for radio.I also performed one of my published stories in an artist's studio which was a great experience. The North Bristol Writers came second in the inaugral Flash Slam too.

I appeared on Ujima radio

I read a story at BristolCon Fringe (and will be performing again in March next year with Myfanwy Rodman)

I hosted a panel at HorrorCon

I was a guest of Bristol Women's Writers at their Halloween Spinetinglers event.

I performed at Talking Tales (and will do so again this coming Monday)

I performed at Page and Performance , a poetry evening at my local pub - I performed one of the very few poems I've ever written, It got its first outing at Sanctum which was an amazing 24 days, 24 hours a day performance by American artist Theaster Gates that North Bristol Writers were honoured to be part of.

I had some more stories accepted - including one for Speculative Bookshop Anthology & others that news will no doubt be released early next year.

I finished (well until an editor gets their hands on it) my novel Seven Deadly Swords - which is doing the rounds looking for a publisher at the moment.

So - all in all a busy writing/bookish year (I have read 122 books this year so far - possibly will make it a couple more by year's end but my reading wrap up will come before Christmas as usual)

Looking forward? I aim to publish (or at least start the process to crowdfund & self-publish) my short story collection which I have been calling Thunder & Magpies - but which may have a name change to A Tiding of Magpies (vote in the comments as to which you like the best)

And, of course, I'd love for Seven Deadly Swords to be published! I will finish Sick City Syndrome. Forever Hungry & Fantastically Horny will also publish and I wil start to submit my stories (I've been remiss a bit this year)

I'm sure next year will be as busy, if not busier, than this!

Guest post from Dan Buri

Dan Buri's first collection of short fiction, Pieces Like Pottery , is an exploration of heartbreak and redemption that announces the arrival of a new American author. His writing is uniquely heartfelt and explores the depths of the human struggle and the human search for meaning in life. Mr. Buri's non-fiction works have been distributed online and in print, including publications in Pundit Press, Tree, Summit Avenue Review, American Discovery, and TC Huddle. The defunct and very well regarded Buris On The Couch, was a He-Says/She-Says blog musing on the ups and downs of marriage with his wife.Mr. Buri is an active attorney in the Pacific Northwest and has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the World's Top 300 Intellectual Property Strategists every year since 2010. He lives in Oregon with his wife and two-year-old daughter. Pieces Like Pottery Links Currently at promotional pricing!AmazonBarnes & NobleiBooksKobo
Goodreads




BRSBKBLOG asked Dan for "Ten things he learned by writing his book"



Ten Things I Learned When Writing My BookWhen Pete graciously offered me the opportunity to guest post about the ten things I learned when writing my book Pieces Like Pottery, my first thought was, “Well, who is going to care what I learned?” But then I thought of a piece of advice I received a long time ago and I remembered, “Why do I care who cares?”
1 - Don’t worry if you have anything important to say. If you’re inspired, write.
When asked about the fears and doubts that she had with her writing, Elizabeth Gilbert (best selling author of Eat, Pray, Love) said she finally had an epiphany that her “writing muse” was telling her that this isn’t her story. If she doesn’t tell it, she said, then the muse would move on to someone else who will. Ms. Gilbert discussed how freeing this was for her. She was no longer declaring to the reader: “Listen to me. I have something to say.” It was almost as if she had no other choice but to write. This opened her up to write every day without fear of the result. When writing my book, this advice was had a similar effect on me that it had for Ms. Gilbert.
2 - Be yourself.
I am constantly inspired by writers, but I made a decision early on in my writing not to try to duplicate any other author’s style. I want to be my own writer.
3 - Write every day.
Ira Glass is an American public radio personality and the host and producer of the radio and television show This American Life. He has a great quote for young creatives. In short, he encourages that your work is not going to be good when you’re first starting out. You may have an excitement for our craft and a killer taste for what’s good, but your execution is poor. The only way to improve your work, the only way to close the gap so that your work is as good as your ambitions, is to do a lot of work. Write. Every day. Every week put yourself on a deadline to write something new. It’s going to take awhile, but that’s normal. Good writing doesn’t come the first time you sit down. Learning this early in the writing of my book was important.
4 - Observe and empathize.
Good writers have a unique gift of empathy that allows them to tap into the “realness” of their characters. Good writers work hard to understand another person’s pains, hopes, dreams and fears, which allows them to create very compelling characters. I learned (I hope) to be more observant and more empathetic throughout the writing of this book.
5 - There is rarely the perfect time and place to write.
Once upon a time I thought I needed to write in a particular time and place. I would typically write at night and need to be in the perfect mood to do so. With a very demanding job, a wonderful wife, and two-year-old daughter, however, I quickly found that I was not finding much time to write at all. I had to begin writing anytime I could find a free 30 minutes. I was lucky I did too.
I think young writers always wait for the moment of inspiration to strike. These moments are amazing, but they are a great luxury. The truth, in my opinion, is that writing is as much about editing and revising as it is about the writing itself. I have so many pages of Pieces Like Pottery on the cutting room floor, so to speak. Maybe editing is a beautiful and inspiring process for some people, but for most writers I know, it is painstaking. There’s nothing inspirational about it for me. Having very little time to write each day helped me to begin taking my writing to the next level, to learn to hone it as a craft, rather than writing simply being an inspirational hobby. I had to find time to write whenever I could, regardless of whether the circumstances were perfect.
That being said, I still love to write at night over a nice glass of wine or a whiskey. Nothing beats that.
6 - Be vulnerable.
Yes, this sounds a lot like #2, but it’s different in my estimation. Readers want authenticity. They can see right through you if you’re faking it. I had to learn to be vulnerable as an author.
7 -Something is not a failure simply because the public doesn’t receive it the way you would like.
Louis C.K. is one of the most thoughtful and innovative comics alive right now. I heard him once speak about his HBO show, Lucky Louie, which was cancelled after one season in 2006. He was asked if he was disappointed with that and if he looked back at it as a failure. His answer was unequivocally: “No.” For him it was just another experience that taught him how to hone his craft, which was invaluable. This was an important piece of advice for me to learn throughout writing my book.
8 - Find balance.
I learned early in this process that I needed to find balance as an author. I needed to be dedicated to the craft and to write daily, but I also needed to find balance with the needs of my family, friends, and my own spiritual centeredness…oh yea, and my day job too I guess.
9 - Write what you know.
This is not a particularly insightful concept—it has been offered as advice to writers for decades—but it was important for me to remember this advice when writing my book. It’s easy to look at what’s on the bestseller’s lists and be tempted to write a novel you think the public might buy. I had to write what I knew, though, even if it wasn’t YA or fantasy fiction.
10 - Enjoy it.
We write for a reason don’t we?

I really do hope readers of BRSBKBLOG will check out my book. I love the support of thoughtful and intelligent readers like yours. 
Many thanks to Dan for some wise words!