Happy New Year!!!

It's a brand new year, and a brand new blog post!

I'm excited about this year. I don't have a new book coming out (damn this whole "life" thing with its busy "life-iness") but I've got one I'm working on and two others I want to start on.

I learned a while ago that one book at a time is the best way for me to write, so I have to hold back on the others for a bit. Still, it gives me motivation to hurry up and finish this one.

The day job that keeps me in beer and skittles is going along very nicely and I am enjoying my work. My daily schedule has resolved itself into something that I can live with and still do my writing and get some exercise (the latter of which fell desperately behind last year).

Now, because no post of mine would be complete without a shameless plug for my work, I will mention that the New Year is an excellent time to treat yourself to a new book or two. I recommend:

Small Magics

and

Cold Magics

But, then, I would. That said, check out the reader reviews. They're pretty darn good!

And Look, I got Interviewed!

(I was mighty busy when this came out, first with NaNoWriMo and SF Contario, then with Christmas, so I missed telling everyone about it at the time.)

While I was at Con*Cept in Montreal, I was fortunate enough to be interviewed by Denis Lalumiére of Cinemaniax and Sébastien Mineau of SithClan. This guys did a great interview and asked some really good questions. Thanks to both for an excellent time.

You can listen to the podcast here.

The introduction is in French, but the interview is in English.

And I have to say, the folks in Montreal are wonderful. Had a great time, and they even put up with my lousy (and I mean really, really lousy) French. Must also thank Dragon Moon Press author Marie Bilodeau, who went there with me and did most of the talking. It was a great weekend.

So Happy New Year to all. I look forward to a great year of writing, conventions, and telling everyone all about it.

Sunday Night: the Last Con*cept Blog Post (for now)

Well, that was a pretty good end to a pretty good weekend.

Spent most of the day in the dealer's room, selling books and getting one more chance to talk to people before they headed on their way. Sold a lot of copies of Small Magics and a fair number of Cold Magics. Had several people who'd bought Small Magics on Saturday come back for Cold Magics on Sunday, just based on their reading Saturday night. That was a very nice feeling indeed.

My panel today was "Killing Your Babies," which was all about editing and the joys of realizing that that amazingly cool scene/character/description/idea/philosophy that you just know was the perfect thing when you wrote it is the thing you need to cut from the book. And if ever there was a group of people qualified to talk about it, it was my fellow panelists. From closest to furthest from me (I was sitting on the end of the table and moderating! I was moderating this group! cool!), there was Tad Williams, Marie Bilodeau, Violette Milan, and Deborah Beale!

It was a wide-ranging discussion with lots of great audience participation and lots of great stories from the writers at the table. In the course of talking about editing, we shared some of our favourite/most horrifying story realizations, discussed the "Disneyfication" of popular culture and the many times all of us have either written or read something which we know needed to be cut out.

Great fun, and an excellent panel to end on.

Then, to make things even cooler, I got an interview with Angela Roberts from The Gloaming. She asked some great questions, and I hope I wasn't talking too much in my answers. Thanks, Angela!

And speaking of thank you's, my thanks to everyone at Con*cept for having me as a panelist and treating all of us so well. And my deep, deep thanks to Marie Bilodeau, my partner in crime and at the Dragon Moon Press table for the weekend, who kept us both laughing through the weekend, translated for those whose who spoke mostly French but still wanted to know what my book was about, and for finding us great breakfast spots two days running.

To everyone new I met, and to everyone I got to see once again, merci beaucoup, et au revoir until next time!

Saturday Night Con*cept Blogging, plus Time Management Basics

And here I am. Only 12:20 and already heading for bed. I swear I was a night owl, once...

Had an excellent day of selling Small Magics and Cold Magics and talking to people. Had a great time on the "But When Do I Write" panel, where myself and Rob St. Martin, Karen Dales and Glenn Grant all talked about time management and how important it is for a writer.

It was such a good discussion, with such excellent people that I want the share the highlights with everyone who happens to pop in and read.

First off: If you want to be a writer, find the time to write, no matter how busy your life is. If you can't, you really don't want to be a writer.

Steps to finding the time:

1. Organize your life. I use a system where everything that one is doing is divided into URGENT, NOT URGENT, IMPORTANT, NOT IMPORTANT (if you know whose system this is, let me know. It isn't mine and I can't remember, but would like to give credit where it is due). From there you can...

2. Prioritize the things that need to get done, in the order you need to get them done in.

3. Create a schedule that allows you to work on the important things (like your writing). Make sure you schedule your free time, so you don't feel guilty about it when you have it.

4. Build a community of people around you who support and understand your goals.

5. Reward yourself when you reach a a goal.

We also talked about the nature of change, and or trauma, and how either or both these things can really throw off your writing schedule. Unfortunately, both are part of life, and in either case, you have to let yourself and your life settle to the point where you can get back on your writing schedule.

It was a good day, and I'll looking forward to another good day tomorrow.

Con*cept Friday Night

Late night blogging from a nice little Con in Montreal. Had a good first evening and a nice book launch with lots of folks attending.

Marie Bilodeau and I are partners in crime for our Montreal launch. I'm launching Cold Magics, Marie is launching her new book, Destiny's Blood. Marie is an amazing reader and a great person, and I can't wait to read her book. It sounds really good.

Then a group of us went out for drinks and late night snacks at a nearby restaurant. It was a great way to end the evening.

So that's day 1. Looking forward to a great day tomorrow with 2 panels, a table to sell books at, and time hanging with fans and fellow writers.