Heidi Ruby Miller's Blog, page 3

PUBLICATION: Staying Creative, Staying Productive by Heidi Ruby Miller in The Pennwriter

I wrote an article for The Pennwriter based on my and Jason's workshop "Staying Creative, Staying Productive" for AllAccessCon , the media arm of RDSP . We added the subtitle: (But Only If You Want To).

Here's an excerpt:

Once social distancing began in March 2020, AllAccessCon’s audience of creators needed them more than ever because most of those creators found themselves frozen by the stress and surrealness of living through a pandemic. Jason and I were chosen for the workshop because we weren’t frozen we’d actually managed to increase our productivity during this time. That’s not because we’re more professional or superhuman or harbor a particularly effusive joie de vivre attitude. We wrote (we write) to battle the fear, the sadness, the daily existential crises. We needed routine, stability, escape.

If you need any of those things, maybe the following will help, but if it doesn’t and you can’t produce right now, let me be the first to tell you that it’s okay. This is a terrible time, no hyperbole necessary. You’ll come back to writing. Maybe after reading this article, maybe next month or a year from now. You’ll come back when you can, when writing helps you deal with the stress, not adds to it. That being said, here’s what we shared with the workshop group that day. It’s divided into four main categories: SCHEDULING, OUTLINING, EXERCISING, and RESTING.

EVENT: SCBWI Winter Conference

This weekend I attended my first ever SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) conference. Even virtual it was inspiring and so much fun. From the pre-conference socials to the Golden Kite Awards ceremony, hosted by Jennifer Garner, to the tour of Simon and Schuster, and the many agent and editor panels, there was always a sense of commitment to providing young readers with quality, important, and entertaining books. I could feel the warm vibes from our various speakers right through the computer screen. Such positive energy. I've put aside time today to review some of the tapes for concurrent sessions I wasn't able to attend. I can't imagine what these conferences are like in person, but I'm excited to find out. Thanks to everyone who made this such a lovely experience.

GIVEAWAY: Books from Matt Betts, Heidi Ruby Miller, Liz Coley, and Lee Murray

Matt Betts is celebrating the release of his new book Red Gear 9 by giving away a prize pack of e-books written by people who helped make both Odd Men Out and Red Gear 9 come to life. One of those people is me. The contest starts on his website at 12:30am Eastern time on Sunday February 7 and ends on 11:30pm on Saturday January 20 .



"Heidi Ruby Miller was the editor at Dog Star Books who championed Odd Men Out and edited the hell out of it! This prize pack includes Ambasadora Book 1: Marked by Light."
"Liz Coley was kind enough to write a killer foreword to Odd Men Out. Her book Tor Maddox: Unleashed is included in the giveaway!"
"Lee Murray wrote an amazing foreword to Red Gear 9 and has been a great friend from way across the world in New Zealand. The third book in the Path of Ra series that she cowrote with Dan Rabarts, Blood of the Sun, is included in the giveaway."
Also included in the giveaway are ecopies of both Odd Men Out and Red Gear 9.

NEWSLETTER: Small Space Big Life Vol. 7 - A New Honor

We’ve made some plans for 2021 in the seventh volume of our combined newsletter Small Space Big Life. They’re fluid, and, if last year taught us anything, it’s that our built-in flexibility keeps us from falling apart (mostly) when things go awry. There are some appearances ahead, mostly virtual but maybe something in-person by fall? In any event, I had some nice news to begin the year, and we still wanted to share reading recommendations and some original works for our subscribers, as well as hosting an international giveaway. Thanks for hanging around with us!

READ THE REST HERE.
AND SUBSCRIBE HERE.

In case you missed the other editions, you can find them here:
OCTOBER 2020 - NEW COVER SNEAK PEEK
JUNE 2020 - STAYING CREATIVE, STAYING PRODUCTIVE
JANUARY 2020 - 1 MILLION VIEWS CELEBRATION
OCTOBER 2019 - NEW BOOK DEAL
JUNE 2019 - PBS DOCUMENTARY
JANUARY 2019 - PENNWRITERS KEYNOTE SPEAKER

EVENT: Series Celebration at AllAccessCon

Celebrate the craft and industry of series books across all genres with RDSP authors Matt Betts, Lee Murray, Dan Rabarts, J.L. Gribble, Heidi Ruby Miller, Jason Jack Miller, and others. Join AllAccessCon for a day of workshops, interviews, and more in this virtual event for writers, readers, and anyone interested in storytelling that goes beyond a single installment.

CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION

EVENT: Seton Hill University WPF January 2021 Residency

The January 2021 Seton Hill Writing Popular Fiction residency was once again virtual, but Jason and I had a wonderful time in critique workshops, thesis defenses, genre dinners, craft modules, and book discussions. Thank you to the WPF Director, Dr. Nicole Peeler, for making this remote residency run so smoothly. Having SHUWPF alum V.M. Burns as our visiting professor was inspiring to all as she spoke of her success after Seton Hill as a mystery writer. We can't wait to see what these new graduates will accomplish. Congratulations to them all, including my mentees Marx Pyle and Victoria Scott.

AFFILIATIONS: International Association of Media Tie-In Writers

Happy to report that I was accepted into the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW) for Man of War , my sequel to Science Fiction Grandmaster Philip Jose Farmer's Two Hawks from Earth. MoW was published with Meteor House .

READING: BOOKS READ IN 2020

BOOKS

I read 50 books in 2020, the most in a long time:

A COLLECTION OF SCIENCE FICTION AND SPACE OPERA SHORT STORIES (Toppin)
A FAIRY'S JOB (Culey)
A MATCH MADE FOR THANKSGIVING (Lau)
A SECOND CHANCE ROAD TRIP FOR CHRISTMAS (Lau)
ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS (Various)
ALTERED CARBON (Morgan)
BENGARIA'S WAR (Toppin)
BETTA'S STATION (Ruffin)

BLACK MOULD (Aaronovitch / Cartmel / Sullivan)
BLINK (Gladwell)
BODY WORK (Aaronovitch / Cartmel / Sullivan)
CARSON OF VENUS: THE EDGE OF ALL WORLDS (Betts)
CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE (Adeyemi)

CHILDREN OF RUIN (Tchaikowsky)
CRY FOX (Aaronovitch / Cartmel / Sullivan)
DETECTIVE STORIES (Aaronovitch / Cartmel / Sullivan)
FOXGLOVE SUMMER (Aaronovitch)
HALLOWEEN SEASON (Snyder)
IF MY CAT COULD FLY (Culey)
IF MY DOG COULD FLY (Culey)
IN THE HEART OF THE FIRE (Koontz)
INTO THE ASHES (Murray)
INTO THE DARKNESS (Murray)
INTO THE MIST (Murray)
INTO THE SOUNDS (Murray)
KISS ME DEAD (Jayne)
LIES SLEEPING (Aaronovitch)
LOVE ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (Various)
MONALISA OVERDRIVE (Gibson)
MOONBLOOD (Fendley)
MURDER ON THE HOUSE (Blackwell)
MY EMBRACE (Joseph)
NIGHT WITCH (Aaronovitch / Cartmel / Sullivan)
ON PHOTOGRAPHY (Sontag)
OUTLIERS (Gladwell)
PRINCESS OF MARS (Burroughs)
RETRIBUTION (Currie)
SALSA VISITS THE ZOO (Culey)
TACO RUNS AWAY (Culey)
TEMPORARY PLANETS FOR TRANSITORY DAYS (Wendland)
THE FAIRY'S JOB (Culey)
THE FURTHEST STATION (Aaronovitch)
THE HANGING TREE (Aaronovitch)
THE OTHER EINSTEIN (Terrell)
THE RUST MAIDENS (Kiste)
THE SILENT PATIENT (Michaelides)
THOMASINE (Elizabeth)
WATER WEED (Aaronovitch / Cartmel / Sullivan)
WOLF SMOKE (Casavant)
YOU ONLY LOVE ONCE (Jayne)

NEWSLETTER: Small Space Big Life Fall 2020 Vol. 6 - New Cover Sneak Peek

NEWSLETTERS

There's a sneak peek of the LIKE SUNSHINE AFTER RAIN anthology cover in the sixth volume of our combined newsletter Small Space Big Life .

In case you missed the other editions, you can find them here:
JUNE 2020 - STAYING CREATIVE, STAYING PRODUCTIVE
JANUARY 2020 - 1 MILLION VIEWS CELEBRATION
OCTOBER 2019 - NEW BOOK DEAL
JUNE 2019 - PBS DOCUMENTARY
JANUARY 2019 - PENNWRITERS KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Plus, we've been hiking and reading...a lot!

READ THE REST HERE.
AND SUBSCRIBE HERE.

VIDEO: Heidi Ruby Miller Reads from Man of War

VIDEOS

I read from Man of War , my sequel to Philip José Farmer's novel Two Hawks from Earth , for Farmercon XV . It was a virtual celebration, so I missed seeing all my Meteor House family in person this year. Here's to next year, everyone! You can see the other events on the Meteor House YouTube channel .