Tales from the Raven

By tomorrow night I need to be 100% ready for an early morning flight to Yellowstone.  As a sensible individual, I’ve taken some steps to get ready.  My preparations include:

An empty suitcase with two items of clothing laid on top.
A batch of wet laundry.
A tentative confirmation from an untrained friend willing to watch our fish, chickens and cats while [...]

This was supposed to be the post in which I announced how wonderful it is to be editing.  When friends such as Pat Esden talked about how much they enjoyed editing and re-writing their WIP, I wondered who their dealer was.
But I’ve really been loving round two.  It’s been nearly six months since I typed the [...]

I wasn’t sleeping anyway, so I started tooling around the internet and came across a blog or two on the subject of writing for money vs. writing for love.  Now, those who know me well are also aware that money is a strong movtivating factor in my writing.
At this point I pause to let the rotten [...]

It’s always nice when I come across a really useful writing or writerly blog, and Wands and Worlds definitely qualifies.  Check out this discussion on ferreting out the undiscovered gems that find themselves hidden in the shadows of the bestseller list.
Thanks for some wonderful insights, Sheila, and welcome to the blogroll!

In perusing the history section of my local library, I came across this book:

 
Of course I checked it out, fell in love, and ran over to Amazon to see about getting my own copy.  This hardcover edition is pricey and/or out of print, so I’ll have to check carefully into newer editions or alternative versions of the [...]

I’m thinking about applying for entrance to bootcamp.
No, not the Army, or the Marines.  Even I have some extremes I won’t go to!  No, this would be the sit-around-and-write kind of bootcamp, as offered by Orson Scott Card.
I’ve looked over my shoulder and wondered about bootcamp before, as I watched my friends traipse through it and [...]

After quizzing the aquarium staff at the Georgia Aquarium until they must have wondered if I was some kind of secret shopper for all things fishy, then heading over for a two parts delight, one part misery visit to the Terracotta warriors (the misery was due to our arriving at the same time as the school groups), we [...]

First, happy April Fool’s Day!  I’d planned on coming up with some clever joke for the blog, but expended all my cleverness trying to get back in the house in an obnoxious and early April Fool’s joke I played on myself.
Sigh.  Maybe next year. 
After a very rocky start on Tuesday in which the locksmith was [...]

My latest Writer’s of the Future entry walked itself out the door today.  This time I sent it priority mail, to make up for the fact that I spent approximately ten weeks longer editing this story then I’d planned.  Anecdotally, this is the first story or novel I’ve ever written that retained the same title from [...]

It’s been a while since I blogged, but if you were to turn my life of late into a picture metaphor, I’d be shown standing mid-stream and fully submerged except my head, bobbing on top of the water.
This may not sound incredibly comfortable, but it beats being six inches further submerged, I’m sure you’d agree.  And, assuming one [...]