Event March 31! In Which I Get to Hang Out With Mary Robinette Kowal in Chicago!

I'm excited to share that on March 31, I'll be at Volumes Bookcafe in Chicago to talk about fantasy, writing, and Torn with the incredible Hugo-award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal! (If you haven't read her Shades of Milk and Honey, you are in for a treat!)

Join us at 7:30 (Central time zone)! I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

More on the event here!

Comments

RULE Cover Launch!

Check out this lovely! I have the best covers...not that I'm biased :) Orbit artist Lisa Marie Pompilio created this beautiful piece of art with the work of Carrie Violet , an embroidery artist. It's absolutely gorgeous--and what's more, there's significance hidden in a lot of the choices. The gray and red, the unraveling threads...I won't tell you what it all means, but it's so perfect! More on Orbit's blog .

Best-Laid Plans: Outlining

Every writer has answered the question at least once--panster or plotter? I'm sure there is no right way--maybe there are more efficient ways, or ways that produce more creative twists, or, most likely, ways that are the most right for each individual. In college I had a roommate who literally outlined every paper down to the paragraph. Beautiful, typed, complete outlines, and they took forever to create--but the actual paper-writing part was shortened because she already knew what she was going to say. Me? I never outlined more than what was in my head already. Even my thesis outline was pretty much section titles and quick notes. (I think that drove my advisor batty.) Still, a novel isn't a five-page essay, a twenty-page paper, or even a thesis. Despite that, I pantsed at first. It was what I knew, and what worked for me. You know what? It worked for writing novels, too. Just not very well. That is, I doubled back...

Going to Your Happy (Writing) Place

Slumps happen. Sometimes they're life-induced--no matter how much of a superwriter you are, it's not easy to balance giant life changes and normal writing habits. Sometimes they're creativity-zappage-induced--everyone hits a point where you just don't feel like writing. Or thinking. Or being creative or imaginative at all. Either way, when you decide to get back in the swing of things, I find two things help. One is a schedule--more on that on Thursday. The other is finding your happy place. No, seriously. I don't do the tortured artist thing. Even if I'm writing something deep or introspective or dark (umm, as deep or dark as I can get, anyway...), I find I do much better if I start with a smile. Or at least not a scowl. So I've identified a few things that never fail to put me in a better mood--and a more optimistic mood is a better writing mood, at least for me. Because if you're feeling like a giant pessimist, ...

Rowenna, Writing

Search This Blog