Next Big Thing Pt. 2

So I got tagged for this puppy again, this time by Erin O'Quinn. Since the other one was NaNo-related, I figured I'd do this one for one that I'm about ready to publish.

1) What is the working title of your current/next book? Kill To Believe.

2) Where did you get the idea for that book? Honestly, I can't remember! It just sort of came up one day. I wrote the first draft a couple years ago. It was a prequel of sorts to another story I wrote but will probably never publish called Impress Me.

3) What's the genre of the book? Noir, crime, M/M romance/erotica.

4) If you could pick actors to play the lead characters in your story, who would you pick? Oh Lord, this is a difficult one. Nathan would probably be played by Brad Pitt, Snatch and Se7en-era. Mike, possibly Cillian Murphy? He might be a little bit too moody for his character, though. For Charlie, I'd have to say Mark Wahlberg.

5) How would you describe your book in one sentence (10 words or less)? Nathan's been through violence, but Mike's a whole different animal.

6) (a) How will your book be published, submitted through the traditional route to a traditional publisher or will you be handling it yourself through Indie Publishing methods? (b) If you're an Indie Author, will you be publishing through your own Indie Publishing company or in a collective with other Indie Authors? I've got it submitted to Total-e-Bound Publishing right now and they're looking it over. :)

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of this book? A few months, I believe.

8) What other books within your genre are similar to yours? Hmm, another good question. I'd have to say Scarlet Blackwell's Fade To Black.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? Honestly, it started with me reading one of Scarlet Blackwell's stories. She's always been a source of inspiration for me.

10) What about your book will pique the reader's interest? If you like dark story-lines, a little crime and guns in your romance, and intense erotica, this novel is for you.

I'm tagging Samantha Kay, Kate Vines

Jan Bowles - Erotic Romance Writer: Guest Blogger: Joey James Hook ~ Erotic Romance Au...

I did a guest blog spot on Jan Bowles' prolific blog. Thanks so much for the opportunity, Jan! :)

Jan Bowles - Erotic Romance Writer: Guest Blogger: Joey James Hook ~ Erotic Romance Au...: Today we have erotic romance writer Joey James Hook . He writes gritty m/m romance novels that are already causing quite a stir. One Two Thr...

Day 25: First Day Of Winning

I've officially won this year, and with not a bad word count, if I do say so myself! This is great, considering before this, I'd been in a complete slump writing-wise. I hadn't written anything all summer because I'd been at home with my parents and hadn't had any sort of inspiration around me-- except about eight thousand words of a WIP zombie-apocalypse story that I plan to revisit sometime soon-- and then in November something just clicked and I haven't been able to stop writing since! It's liberating, it really is.

The biggest issue I'm going to end up having is the fact that I now have so many WIPs and I also have so many finished novels that need a good, thorough second-draft editing, and with so many different ideas for new stories in my head, it's hard to commit myself to doing a hardcore edit of the things I've already written. This is something I've always had a bit of trouble with, though, so I'm not too surprised.

Anyway, that's my winner's bar for this year's NaNo! I'm very excited about it and proud.

Introspect: Bane of My Existence

I think the hardest thing about being a published author is looking back on work you've done years past-- published or not-- and realizing how much better you could have made it if you'd been patient enough to write the stories when you had the skill and experience to execute them more effectively.

Take Kaleb's story for example. When I wrote it, I thought it was the most intense story I'd ever written. I frequently called it my masterpiece and I didn't think I'd ever be able to top it. Then, about a month ago a reviewer pointed out that with that story, not only did I leave questions unanswered, I pulled back in the more poignant parts and wrote it like it was in a third person point of view instead of Kaleb's, and it took away some of the power of the emotional scenes. That's something I try not to do now, and I'm more aware of it because of that comment and just growing as an author, I just wish I'd waited and rewritten Kaleb's story until I had more faculties, more ability to put emotion into writing.

I learn a lot every time I publish something, and I think through publishing something I thought was my masterpiece, I found a story that was similarly worth telling without the sheer amount of angst. Kaleb's story is one angst after another until he settles down, but the one I'm working on now isn't that way. Kay's more or less just a normal young adult who, sure, had a different upbringing than most people, but it doesn't ever cause him angst.

I think it's a little bit funny that Kaleb and Kay have about the same amount of words to their stories, but Kaleb's is all in one novel and Kay's is spanning three now. I should have broken Kaleb's story up into more than one novel, because there was so much more about his life that I could have touched on, some less intense and some more. Live and learn, I suppose.

I feel the same with my novel, Phoenix. I could probably write that novel so much better now if I'd waited to publish it. I could have given Blake an intensity that I hadn't managed when I wrote it. I do have a sequel in mind for that world, but it's on the backburner. It's almost funny, how different the writing is going to be between the two sequels.

The Next Big Thing BlogHop

The Next Big Thing is a series of questions on our work-in-progress, at the end of these questions I shall then give you links to other participants of the Blog Hop, who are due to answer their questions by the 28th November, so don't forget to check them out!

I was tagged by Samantha Kay.

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

1. What is the working title of your book? I have three right now. One's Drawing By Heart, then its sequel Fire and Oxygen and finally a suspense thriller called Gallagher's Torment.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book? Well, Drawing By Heart and Fire and Oxygen are sequels to One Two Three, Shatter and the sequel to that in consideration right now, One Two Three, Salvation. Gallagher's Torment came out of a need to write something darker, more suspenseful and move away from the whole literary fiction/romance part of life.

3. What genre does your book fall under? Drawing By Heart is literary fiction/LGBT romance/coming of age, and Gallagher's is mystery/suspense/paranormal with a slight underlying romance.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I have the whole thing cast out in my head, haha. Some are musicians, others are actors. In Drawing By Heart, the main couple are Nick Matthews and Justin Chatwin and there are a literal ton of other cast characters but that could take up this whole thing! In Gallagher's Torment, the cast of characters are Jeremy 13th (Finnish musician), Elisha Cuthbert, Tyler Blackburn, Sierra Kusterbeck, Claire Holt, and James McAvoy.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Drawing By Heart: When he has to make a choice between the past and the present, what will Kay X do to protect the ones he loves?
Fire and Oxygen: When something drastic and terrifying happens to Kay to create conflict on his end, how will he and his boyfriend weather that storm?
Gallagher's Torment: Craig Gallagher's mother was a woman driven insane, but he's terrified going back to the house she nearly killed him in will unlock the same madness inside him.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Probably self-published. I don't have an agent.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Twelve days for Drawing By Heart. Six days to write Gallagher's Torment. I've been working on Fire and Oxygen for four days, and it's only in its infancy.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Oh, I have no idea, honestly. Maybe one of Scarlet Blackwell's novels.

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book? My muses. The characters themselves. My girlfriend.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? If you're already into Kaleb's world and Kay piqued your interest at the end, you'll want to see him grow up and become a man in his own right. If you like a hot couple, intense chemistry, and a solid love story weaved in with a coming-of-age tale of a young man who grew up in a home different than most people, you'll like Kay's trilogy. Also, if you like paranormal and ghost stories, you should check out Gallagher's Torment.

I don't actually have anyone to tag as of right now, but if you want to do it, you can! That's just how I roll.

Baby, It's Cold Outside (but the blog's not)

So, I decided that my blog looked a little bit cold and closed off with the monochromatic spectrum, so I added a little heat to it. Well, a lot of heat, I suppose. I like it quite a bit better now. It's more engaging, more welcoming. More me, I guess is what I'm going for. It needed something to hook the reader.

Now that I've got you hooked, I hope, I've been hard at work on Kay and Johnny's third novel, and I've got a lot of great ideas for it. Total word count for November is 92k today. I'm also looking into places to submit his first story to. I already sent it to Silver Publishing for consideration, but I think it was a bit preemptive considering I'm doing some editing on it now and it's a hot mess. It's getting better, but there are typos everywhere, stilted sentences, the works. It was sort of a NaNo on its own; I wrote the whole thing in a span of a few weeks, about 55k, back in June and July. I can't wait to introduce you guys to these boys. I'm very passionate about them.

I've only let one person read anything of theirs so far, and I got a great response. Maybe she's biased, but she's also objective when it comes to writing-- she's not afraid to speak her mind and tell me something's off-- so I take her at her word. I'm excited to pull you all into their world. To start you off, I'd say read One Two Three, Shatter for a nice, solid backstory on the universe. To buy, click on the cover in my sidebar! It won't bite. Maybe then you'll start to see what I'm babbling about, but Kay and Johnny are a whole different beast than Kaleb and Trent. Not better, just...different. I love them both to pieces, though.

In the next couple days, I'm gonna be talking about my WIPs due to the blog hop I'm taking part in, so you'll get an introduction there as well. For now, back to editing for me!

'Til next time. :)

Excerpt: One Two Three, Shatter

Hey guys, if you're looking for a taste of my novel, One Two Three, Shatter, or if you're wondering 'is this novel really for me? it sounds pretty dark and doesn't have much erotic content in it, I bet,' go ahead and check out this link for a very short, erotic excerpt from it and judge for yourself:

Behind Closed Doors: The Erotic Connection - One Two Three, Shatter Excerpt.

Check it, leave a comment, and if it teases and entices, buy Kaleb's story and let me know you did! The link to buy is at the bottom. He's a rollercoaster, he'll take you on an emotional ride you won't forget, and it'll be dark for a while there, but life, love and the human condition wins over in the end. You'll love him, hate him, and cry for him, but I think it's worth it to see him overcome as much as he has, but maybe that's just because I'm his creator. I have gotten some wonderful feedback from this novel, though. See for yourself if he lives up to my hype!

While you're there, you can check out stuff from other authors participating in the website. Check out their blurbs and excerpts. There are some talented authors over there as well.

Now, back to writing!

Day 15: December? Did I Say December?

So, a couple posts ago, I said I would revisit Kay's third novel in December. It seems to me he was not very happy with the decision he made at the end of the second novel (I will refrain from explaining because I don't want spoilers for someone who might read it in the future) because he's got me writing novel number three, Fire and Oxygen.

For those of you who have been keeping track (just me? okay) this is the third novel I've begun working on this November-- not counting the three ideas that I went through before the month even started-- and I'm almost finished with Gallagher's Torment. This is a good thing, because a couple days ago, I got a job working as a server thirty hours a week so once that starts up and then school on top of it, I'm not gonna have as much time to write.

This series is just going above and beyond anything I expected. Kay's just a character I've connected with in a way that-- shockingly-- supersedes the connection that I've felt with Kaleb. I keep saying it's a family thing, and it probably is. Kay was raised by him, so I'm not surprised they have the same alluring quality to them and this insistent need to have their stories written. After Kay's done, I'm gonna end up writing Kaleb's dad's story. It's alive and growing!

These Xander boys sure have taken me on a hell of a rollercoaster so far. Wonder what else they'll throw at me. Back to writing to find out!

Day 11: One Down, One To Go

So, finally, I finished my first novel, Drawing By Heart. You say, finally? Really? It's been eleven days! I say, yes this is true, but I also got tackled by another plot that was ten times more challenging and interesting to write because it's been so long since I wrote a suspense novel. I wasn't sure I'd be able to go back to Kay's story once I'd started Craig's.

I'm happy to report that I have given Kay's second novel a very tentative ending that I will revisit in December, albeit it's open to a third book in his series, which shouldn't be surprising. He's a very complex little muse, isn't he? I have no idea where he's going to take me next.

In the meantime, I have Gallagher's Torment, in which Craig is slowly losing his mind. It's quite fun to go back to my roots of horror and suspense writing, and I've found that I missed writing that sort of thing immensely. I don't know why I stopped writing them, because I have such a passion for the weird and the macabre. I don't know where I ended up forgoing my instincts for the darkness in favor of trying to write one-dimensional romance stories.

At any rate, I'm glad to be getting back into this groove, and while I feel like this story isn't going to breach even 25k, I can't wait to see where it ends up. Craig is a very interesting character, and the supporting characters are all great too. They're making it difficult to choose who should end up being the victim of the madness. Oh well, I'll let Craig choose once he slips from reality.

So I ask before I go back to noveling: Has anyone else ever gone back to a genre after staying away from it for so long only to feel like you're being welcomed home?

Day 9: The Case Of The Switching Muses

All right, so I hit my 50k goal, as I said in my last blog post. The novel I've been writing is sitting at 62.5k right now. I decided to take a quick break from Kay's story, one that he's been pushing me to write since I started NaNoWriMo and I started on a mystery that's straddling the line between YA and horror, depending on the kinds of supernatural things come out of the woodwork. Here's the summary:

Craig Gallagher's mother is an urban legend for the antics that she displayed right before she was committed when he was young, and the story's about his journey to coming to terms with the trauma in his past. This includes going back to the dilapidated house that he'd grown up in on Halloween and facing the demons of the past. He has no idea what awaits him and what other horrors and traumas he might encounter inside the house when the door gets locked behind him and a few friends on Halloween night.

The thing is, since I started this story a day ago, I haven't been able to go back to Kay's story at all. I've got about 4k in on it so far. I thought I'd be able to balance them, but my muses are so demanding that one eclipses the other. What happened to my ability to write a few stories at once? Am I just getting old and now I can only work on one at a time?

This is a legitimate problem. I suppose I have time to finish Kay's story since I literally just submitted the first part of his story to my publisher and I won't get a response back for a few weeks, but I really wanted to get it finished. Oh well, muses are finicky like that.

At least this story's different, and that's exciting.

NaNo Day 7: Where Are You Now?

So, NaNoWriMo authors, we've been at this for seven days. Exactly one week. Where are you supposed to be? I think the word count is somewhere in the 11k range-- just checked, it's supposed to be 11,666-- but not me. Oh, no, of course not. I have persistent muses and too much time on my hands. So, you ask, where am I right now? What is my word count on the seventh day of November, when most are just hitting the 10k mark?

I just passed 58,000 words. You know why? Because my muses are slave drivers, that's why. Today, I think I'm going to take a bit of a break from writing-- if they let me, that is-- and spend some time doing other things.

I will say that this writing has been causing slight problems. I've been ignoring people I love and care about in favor of writing, and that's part of the reason I've been going slower than normal these past few days. My partner's doing this too, but she has school and homework, so her word count isn't as high as mine. I'm sure her writing is better than mine, though. She's such a talented author, and I hope one day people will be able to read her work as they can read mine: published.

I digress. Today is a day of rest, especially considering I've already written about 2k words today. I'm going to try and step away from the little-- okay, big-- world I've created and live in the real world for a while.

Wish me luck!

The Effects of Sprints

So this year for National Novel Writing Month, I am way over my word count especially for this just being the third day, and that mostly has to do with all the sprints I've been doing over at the Facebook NaNoWriMo page. I can't stress enough how amazing those are to just let go of any lingering trace of your inner editor and just let the words come to you. There's time for editing later and as both my editors will tell you, there have been a lot of editing needed on both of my published NaNo novels because I did just this. Admittedly, I should have done a better job editing myself the first time around, but they were great sports about it.

I've also met a bunch of great people over there. I'm not usually the most social guy, and in fact I'm a bit of a hermit and that sort of hurts my sales because I'm not the type to put myself out there, but this month I've been more involved with the word sprints and the discussions over there than I ever have been before. It shows in my word count, too, considering I'm almost halfway to 50k and it's only the third day. Sprinting is a brilliant thing if you're hung up on editing yourself or you just think you're not cut out for this. Just shut your editor off and write for fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes. However long the sprint is, you just write. It's an amazingly liberating experience.

This story has taken me on a rollercoaster and I'm not quite sure where it's going to end, but this set of characters does that to me. Kay and his friends have always told me to expect the unexpected-- hell, this story had me merging an entire other world from one of my other novels with this one to expand the amount of characters exponentially-- and that's what I love more than anything about it. I'm excited to introduce this other cast of characters, and that's my next step.

I look forward to what else they pull out of their hats for me to write. Now, I'm back to writing. Happy noveling!

The beginning of NaNoWriMo

So today is the first day of NaNoWriMo and I decided to change what novel I'm working on, and put Tempestuous Heart on the back-burner with about six other different novel ideas. I decided to write the third installment of the Xander Series since I just sent the publisher the second one for submission a few days ago. It doesn't have a title yet, but it will, I'm sure, by the end of this month.

This is the widget I have selected to put on here, so people know my progress and can tell if I'm slacking or not. Haha.

As you can see, today's been a good day writing-wise and I feel like this weekend will be just as prolific, because I plan on doing nothing but buckling down and writing, with lots of soda and junk food to keep me awake. I love this time of year, because it challenges me, and I do some of my best work for NaNo. Fun fact: Both Phoenix and One Two Three, Shatter started out as NaNoWriMo novels. That's probably why my poor editors had a slew of mistakes to correct even after I'd gone through it a couple times!

My food of choice right now is Runts and Rockstars, and my music of choice is old Get Scared, before they switched singers. They're a great inspiration for this novel. Originally it was called, tentatively, Best Kind Of Mess, and we'll see if that title sticks, but as of right now it's open for naming.

All right, I've probably eaten up my word count for the day in this blog post, so I'm going to go back to writing. Happy NaNoWriMo to all oter writers participating with me, and good luck!

National Novel Writing Month

So, I have done National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo for short) since 2008, and I've completed every year but once. I am going to embark on that goal once more, but this time I am going to be moving and working on top of it. The joys of being an indie writer!

I digress. I'm gonna talk a bit about the story I have in mind for this most prestigious event. It's called Tempestuous Heart, tentatively anyway. Since I've been re-reading both Wuthering Heights and The Count of Monte Cristo, I've decided I want to write a historical fiction novel. Historical romance, to be more specific. Well, it might end up being romance. It might not. We'll have to see what kind of rollercoaster ride these characters take me on.

It's about two neighbors, both orphans adopted by English well-to-do families, and the way the differences in the way they grew up influence their relationship. One, Samuel, is a stickler for rules and adheres to society and the Catholic faith. The other, Thomas, is a wild child who would rather run in the fields and hunt than sit in a pew for church. The way they clash will, I'm sure, be a lot of fun to write.

I'm excited to begin it.

New Website and Update

So this is going to be a relatively short update, but I've been playing with my website for the past month or so, and I think it's about finished. If there's anything anyone would like to see on the page, by all means, let me know. It's here:

Joey James Hook

In other news, I've been going slow and steady on this zombie novel I've been working on. It doesn't have a name yet but it has a general concept and some pretty strong characters that I think people will enjoy reading about. They're both funny, especially together. I can't wait until I can hit that point where I can just sink into it and start letting it flow. It's always a bit difficult to start a story but once I get in the groove of things, it comes easily. I just need to hit that stride.

I need to get back into reading. Things have been a bit hectic. I'll pick up one of my books tomorrow, lose myself in a fantasy world or two.

That's it for now. I always find myself blogging at three in the morning. It's when I have to empty my thoughts more than any other time. With that in mind, good night!

What I'm Reading/Writing

Normally I just say whatever comes into my head, but sometimes that gets me into trouble, so if there's anything anyone wants me to talk about, let me know!

My novel One Two Three, Shatter just came out on Saturday, and the presales knocked me out! I'm glad it's gotten a relatively good reception, because it's my baby. Now I'm just waiting for word back on the sequel.

Since this is a writing blog, I suppose I should be talking about the things I've been reading as of late. Mostly I've been brushing up on my old American Sign Language textbooks, trying to get a feel for the language again because I've forgotten quite a bit of it, sadly. It helps that I'm writing a novella featuring a Deaf character, though that poor story is on hiatus right now, since it's trapped on a laptop that won't charge and I don't have the money to fix it. Edits for one of my other novels is stuck on there as well.

Starving artist at its finest!

I've been reading a book called The Burning Girl by Joe Niehart, and it's... interesting, to say the very least. The narrative isn't what I'm used to but it's not bad. I have it in paperback somewhere, and I should probably try and pick it up again. I'm also reading DAZED, by a writer friend of mine, Nikki Palomino. I haven't had much time to settle down and really give it the attention it deserves, but it's intriguing so far. Her writing style is rough, but it fits the character she's writing.

As far as new works goes, I've been tinkering with the idea of writing a zombie novel, because I've been catching up on the show, The Walking Dead. I think it'd be fun and fascinating to write something intense and gripping like that, and I have a few pages down. I just need to sit and devote some time to it.

It's almost two in the morning and I should try and get some rest even though my brain is always working on overtime. So I leave you with this.

'Til next time!

Working on covers

It's when I begin working with a cover artist that I realize that sometimes even with a 158,000 manuscript, it's difficult for me to express my exact vision. It's hard to explain something that's been in my head since 2008. There's so much about this world that I've created that I find difficult to explain, like exact nuances of my characters or exactly what I want the cover of my books to look like.

I find it kind of funny that neither of my books look like romance novels, but then again that was because they aren't exactly romance novels. I prefer writing stories about worlds to stories about a small part of them that's focused on a relationship.

I love the covers I've gotten so far, and I only hope I can continue to express my vision in a way that brings people into my little worlds that I've created. I only wish I had a further reach so I could touch more people.

Things that I love

There's this meme going around where someone asks you about seven things and you're supposed to talk about it. My friend gave me writing, music, my nickname theskeletonboy, nicknames in general, food, laundry and numbers. These are my answers:

-writing
Writing is something that I honestly don't think I could live without. I define myself as a writer so naturally, it's a big part of my life. I've been writing since I was about nine, when one of my teachers said I had a lot of potential. I competed in a speech competition to have my story be the one read at eighth grade graduation. I didn't win, but it didn't stop me from pursuing it as a hobby and hopefully someday as a full-time job. I've written everything from nonfiction to essays to literary fiction, but my niche is in romantic noir. I love reading, and that's what fuels me to be a better writer despite the fact that I'm envious that their writing got them to where they are - published with a big publishing house with a lot of royalties coming from it. I only hope that someday I'll be able to do the same thing, I just gotta keep pushing.

- music
Music is something that means a lot to me. I wouldn't be able to function if I didn't have music playing. My favorite bands are a part of my personality and I'm always expanding my horizons. I like everything from death metal to pop, but my favorite genre is hard rock/heavy metal, whichever you'd like to call it. Some people call it rock, some call it metal, some just call it crap, but I love it. Avenged Sevenfold is and always will be my favorite band, along with Burn Halo, Eighteen Visions (RIP), Track Fighter, New Medicine, and an up and coming band called Dear Silence. Recently I've also gotten into Asking Alexandria and A Skylit Drive, along with a few others which I'd rather keep to myself. In essence, I just love music. Period. I've always wanted to be able to play an instrument, but I don't have the coordination, not to mention whenever I sing, my voice breaks like I'm still a teenage boy so I just satisfy myself by listening and appreciating.

- theskeletonboy
This is a nickname I've been using for about a year. It came from a very old recording done by Andy Biersack. He used to be an inspiration to me, but he's recently fallen out of favor in my book. Anyway, I digress. He was singing a song about a skeleton boy being lonely, I believe - the recording was shoddy and I cold barely hear the lyrics - and I'd been looking for a new handle online, and it just resonated with me. So, that's what I am.

- nicknames
I have a lot of nicknames. As stated above, the skeleton boy, is a nickname I've had for a few solid years .My most used nickname, though, has always been and will always be Joey. My full name is Joseph, but everyone calls me Joey. Some people have called me Grandpa Joe before, or Uncle Joey, or anything of the sort. I've also been called Jade, Syn - because of my love of Synyster Gates - and quite a few others. I suppose over the years I went through a lot of different names to find my niche and what I like to be referred to. It's Joey.

- food
FOOD. Okay, I can go on about this all day, every day. I love food. I could eat all day every day if you let me. Especially when it comes to something fattening and greasy, throw it my way. I could eat burgers every day for the rest of my life and be perfectly content. Aside from that, I do love pizza and I will never say no to eating steak. I also love sweets, like chocolate or sour candy. Also, chips. I am kind of a picky eater, but it's gotten better over the years. I'll eat things now that I never thought I would have, like putting red cayenne pepper into everything I cook. That's all thanks to my partner.

- laundry
Uuuugh, laundry. I love how it smells when it first comes out of the dryer, but the process of actually doing it? It's like pulling teeth.

- numbers!
I have a funny thing with numbers. I like putting them together to create different, bigger numbers. For example, there's this street sign that I almost always passed at least twice a week, and the numbers are 22135. I tend to add them up in my head and try to find patterns, like 10 and 4 and finally 13 because that's the sum of all five separate numbers. I also really like the time 12:34 and 11:11.

Thoughts On Writing With A Big Bonus Quote

"Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins. It has no job security of any kind, and depends mostly on whether or not you can, like Scheherazade, tell the stories each night that’ll keep you alive until tomorrow. There are undoubtedly hundreds of easier, less stressful, more straightforward jobs in the world. Personally, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do, but that’s me.

If you want to be a writer, write. You may have to get a day job to keep body and soul together (I cheated, and got a writing job, or lots of them, to feed me and pay the rent). If you aren’t going to be a writer, then go and be something else. It’s not a god-given calling. There’s nothing holy or magic about it. It’s a craft that mostly involves a lot of work, most of it spent sitting making stuff up and writing it down, and trying to make what you have made up and written down somehow better. …

It does help, to be a writer, to have the sort of crazed ego that doesn’t allow for failure. The best reaction to a rejection slip is a sort of wild-eyed madness, an evil grin, and sitting yourself in front of the keyboard muttering “Okay, you bastards. Try rejecting this!” and then writing something so unbelievably brilliant that all other writers will disembowel themselves with their pens upon reading it, because there’s nothing left to write. Because the rejection slips will arrive. And, if the books are published, then you can pretty much guarantee that bad reviews will be as well. And you’ll need to learn how to shrug and keep going. Or you stop, and get a real job."
— Neil Gaiman: On Writing

I agree with Neil, because there's nothing in the world I'd rather be doing than writing, even though it's not easy to keep going when the rest of your life's got you down. The fact is, though, that writing can take you away from whatever's going on in your real life and put you in another universe for a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few days. It's my chance to build a whole new world.

It's a great attitude, to respond to rejection letters with more determination, and that's what I've done before even though sometimes all I want to do is rip my manuscript to shreds. It's better to channel whatever I'm feeling into something beautiful, something better than what I'm feeling.

I know for a fact that I'm never going to stop even if I do have to hold down a demure job for a while until I can become the next great America bestseller. I hope someday that happens. I am determined to make it as a writer that everyone knows and loves. Right now, I'm just a blip on the radar.

On Pottermore and Inspiration

So I decided today that I was going to start blogging more, and so here I am. Today I joined Pottermore, the newest interactive Harry Potter activity. There's so much more information concealed within the online game, and it made me realize that J. K. Rowling has such an intense imagination and it reminds me of why I became an author in the first place.

Reading things like Harry Potter and Pottermore inspires me to want to make my own world big enough to make everyone fall in love with every little nook and cranny of the world that I created, want to know more about every little character so I can create a backstory for each and every one that I've dreamed up.

Pottermore is a lot of fun, because you can make potions, cast spells, and my two favorite parts: getting a wand and being sorted into a House. The questions it asked were fascinating and it ended up being pretty accurate. I always thought I'd be in Slytherin, but it turns out it sorted me into Ravenclaw and I suppose it makes sense. My wand is a 12 3/4 inch Maple wand with Phoenix Feather core, and it's supple. I kind of suck at duels but I'm all right at potion-making. It tells me a lot about me, and it's amazing that one person was able to dream up something that makes up my entire childhood.

I only hope that someday I can create something that touches even a fraction of the people Harry Potter has touched.