Infrastructure makes everyday life — as we know it — possible. Much of it is buried and can go unthought of when it’s working; however, throw in a major storm that overwhelms our wastewater systems, and bam! we’re wading through poop water. The average person really pays no mind to infrastructure — minus during times ofContinue reading “Why Writers Should Care About Infrastructure”
Author Archives: smwright
Acceptance Cover And Blurb Revealed
After much blood, sweat, and tears (so many tears), I’m pleased to reveal the cover of Acceptance, the first story in The Augur’s Rose Series. I drew and painted it in Photoshop CS4 using my Wacom Bamboo tablet. The process included many layers, various reference photos for the lovely hooded crow (Vidar), and aContinue reading “Acceptance Cover And Blurb Revealed”
Be on the lookout!
November is a hopping month for me, to say the least. Since work on my sci-fi novel is shelved as it sits in the slush pile, I’m stoking the flames of industry to see a few projects to certain levels of completion, including pushing one baby birdy out of the nest. The latter of whichContinue reading “Be on the lookout!”
Beta Reading Process Part 3: The Data
All right. You’ve wrapped up the beta reading process, and depending on the number of beta readers you had, you might have a lot of data to pore over. It can overwhelming, particularly if there is a lot of constructive comments. Heck, it might also have you seeing red because your manuscript is your special baby. That is why you, dear writer, need to take a deep breath and step back. Sure, browse the comments, read all of them from each beta reader, but don’t act on them, at least not yet.
Beta Reading Process Part 2: Writers vs. Readers
Diving further into the beta reading process, this time around we’re going to explore the readers themselves. Who makes the better beta reader, fellow writers or straight-up readers? Well, I’m afraid there will be no concrete answer to this question; however, I will share my own observations, because these two groups did bring different input toContinue reading “Beta Reading Process Part 2: Writers vs. Readers”
Writing, waiting for a diagnosis and Grant
I don’t have a diagnosis. I just have a swelling thyroid that has nodules. And it sucks. My doctor for the past few years has always commented on my thyroid, that it looked big to her. Blood work, however, has always come back stellar and I’d felt normal. Then this last time (this past April)Continue reading “Writing, waiting for a diagnosis and Grant”
“Sisters” — A short romp through history
If you are looking for a short read, I highly recommend that you head over to Amazon quickly! Rachelle M.N. Shaw’s latest short story is free, and as my dad says (and he always does say it), nothing is better than free. To top it off, it’s a quality character-driven piece that focuses onContinue reading ““Sisters” — A short romp through history”
Beta Readers, A Method
Currently, I’m wrapping up additional revisions to my sci-fi novel, Heritage Lost. This has been a long ongoing project that undoubtedly, if you routinely follow my blog, you’ve read about and might be wondering “How long is she going to ticker with it?” Well, after continuing to hit a brick wall in querying process, I dialedContinue reading “Beta Readers, A Method”
Protecting Yourself
Copyright is a challenging topic if you don’t have a law degree and haven’t studied up on it. Lord knows I am no expert myself, so I try to use as many of my own photos/graphics and public domain photos as possible on this blog — with a few exceptions that I feel fall underContinue reading “Protecting Yourself”
Gen Con Recap #1: Structuring Life for Creativity
One of the best seminars I had attended during Gen Con 2016 was Structuring Life for Creativity, which was presented by Sandra Tayler. It is a subject that I think a lot of writers struggle with; after all, we are all busy. Sometimes, our creative selves and our writing take second fiddle to life’s craziness. IContinue reading “Gen Con Recap #1: Structuring Life for Creativity”
Blood & Ink 