For this month, here’s a double feature! Many thanks to Sally Cronin for promoting my published work, and to Robbie Cheadle for allowing me to discuss how poetry has impacted my life. Check out both!
Public appearances
Change, Perfection, Positivity
Change happens all the time. As someone who suffers from Asperger syndrome, I can tell you that change to routines and patterns, stepping outside of my comfort zone, has never been easy. Change, especially when it occurs outside of my control, sends my mind spiraling, and I feel trepidation.
But change can lead to benefits. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been making efforts to cut back on social media time, but I’m also seeking to change my online habits, too. During the COVID shutdown I spent more time online, especially Twitter. I did get the word out about my work more and made some new connections, but now the hashtags I followed haven’t helped with book sales. The same’s been happening with tweets asking for book recommendations. These habits and the time spent on them and other sites feel more like a hindrance. To counter them, I’ve tried walking more, and for that, I’m glad.
With most sites, I’ve gotten down to generally 1-2 logins per day. Nevertheless, that is also something that could change in the future. Sometimes, I’ve found myself going up again if I need to do something specific, like website maintenance. I’ve felt if I can limit myself with those moments, I’m fine.
Nevertheless, the temptation is still there, and it can eat time. Plus, I’m aware these efforts could turn into new patterns that could become just as constrictive and worrisome. I need to curb the scrolling, searching, and that addictive, time-eating cycle that can result, but simultaneously, I also shouldn’t try to control everything, because anxiety always comes from not being perfect. It’s been said that with reviews, quantity over quality. With online time and content, it’s the opposite. Now I need to put it into practice.
Likewise, I’ve tried getting back into the writing routine I’ve mentioned before. Sometimes it doesn’t happen, and other times I do not get the word count I’d like, but I need to remind myself that progress is progress, no matter how small. I need to see the fun in writing again, as author Nour Zikra put it. This year, I hope to be more positive about my writing, my online/social media time, my habits, and, most of all, myself.
I realized through prayer that I need to think more positively. Then, at the beginning of Advent, when I was feeling low and anxious again, after an earnest prayer to God, I opened my copy of the Bible without any specific section in mind. It opened to Psalm 77, and as I read it, I knew my prayer had been answered. Even if you’re not Christian or religious, I hope you too will remember all the good that’s been in your life when distressed. If I need to make changes to meet new circumstances, I will have to do so.
P.S. Enjoy these videos of my readings from last year’s open mics!
Spotlight
When a writer’s work is published, it not only goes out into the spotlight, but so does the writer. People who read books are pretty much guaranteed to be interested in learning more about the people who wrote the words, to find out more about the mind behind the stories they become devoted fans of. But the spotlight can be a double-edged sword.
Writers need to use public appearances and speaking in order to help spread the word about their work and build a network with other writers. It’s part of the marketing process. The nice thing about these events and conferences is that a writer can plan ahead to prepare for these events.
On the other hand, sometimes the spotlight can bring about negative feelings. The simple fact is not all people crave or seek the spotlight, especially introverted people like me. It’s especially negative when one hasn’t had the time to prepare, and it feels that everyone’s converging on them. That’s why I haven’t liked it when people unexpectedly start singing on my birthday.
There have certainly been a number of famous writers who haven’t craved the spotlight, such as Harper Lee and Emily Brontë. With the latter, it was her sister Charlotte who got herself, Emily, and Anne on their publishing ventures; had Emily been left to herself, she may not have published anything in her lifetime. J. D. Salinger went so far as to become a recluse and gradually cease publishing (though in his case, it may have also been due to unresolved PTSD from his service in World War II as well as fans of his magnum opus).
And, of course, the spotlight can have negative effects in another way. If people start scrutinizing your life, it can lead to mental trauma and even scandal. Throughout the news there have been numerous headlines about rough patches and downward spirals that many celebrities have gotten into, with gossip about what they are doing, especially in their personal lives. I definitely don’t want that.
It’s good to get away from the spotlight and the Internet sometimes. That’s why I’m taking my efforts to balance scales further by cutting back more on the number of logins per social media site per day, with reassessments of my social media activity.
When publishing, especially these days, it’s no longer possible to avoid the spotlight, but privacy is still something worth guarding. Therefore, it’s a good idea to prepare for public events such as reading, and it may be possible to satisfy the public’s curiosity without giving away too much, regulating what can be shared and what isn’t. They don’t need to know everything. One’s privacy is one’s own and no others.
To my fellow Americans, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. Be thankful for home, family, and privacy.
Coming Later this Week!
It’s almost here! Yes, I’m talking about the new edition of Mystical Greenwood from Fae Corps! Don’t forget! There is a launch party on August 26th on Facebook in the Fae Corps Inc Party Room group.
You can still pre-order eBooks! The paperback through Barnes & Noble can be pre-ordered now, too! It seems that B&N and Amazon issue separate ISBNs now (paperback via Amazon should be ready around the release day).
Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU
Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Books2Read
It’s hard to believe that it’s happening. This book has been on quite a journey, and with this new edition I took the opportunity to make many grammatical corrections.
In fact, I learned this month that in a contest I submitted the original edition to in Top Shelf Magazine, which I’d forgotten about, the book was an honorable mention. It was a nice little surprise, and it can only make me wonder what’s in store for the new edition!
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been trying to reestablish a morning writing routine, as I’d mentioned previously. I have found that two things have contributed to making it successful:
- Sitting at a table as opposed to on the couch. When it comes to writing rather than editing, posture matters, it seems.
- Not logging onto the internet until after I’m done.
Basically, the writing time (as of now) lasts as long as my two morning cups of coffee with Coffee Mate French Vanilla cream, so I guess I now have a writing beverage. But more than anything else, the discipline of doing it, even when barely a few words barely make it out (which has happened a few times), is what is making it work. Here’s hoping it continues and gets more productive. Maybe it’ll progress to a weekly word count, like I had to do in a novella class taught by Professor Jerry Gabriel back at St. Mary’s College. We’ll see.
Release Party Next Month!
For those who haven’t seen last month’s post, my fantasy novel Mystical Greenwood is having a new edition coming out next month courtesy of Fae Corps, with whom I have been in four anthologies (you can find these on my poetry and short stories pages).
Looking back on when it was first published and the road towards getting the new one ready, some of it was familiar territory, while in other cases, things have changed when it comes to technology, which has been more helpful in proofreading and correcting grammatical errors, which is definitely not an opportunity to pass up when releasing a new edition.
But through all of it, I am reminded perhaps more so than before that I need to be patient (one of those four P’s of getting published) and trust that everything will be okay.
I’m very grateful to Fae Corps for taking my book on, and they have done a fantastic job with promotional images:
And don’t forget that you can preorder eBook editions! Print copies will be available on or around the release date.
Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU
Goodreads | Barnes & Noble | Books2Read
And there is going to be a launch party on August 26th on Facebook in the Fae Corps Inc Party Room group. I hope to see you there!
In the meantime, I hope to continue to try to find a better balance between writing and marketing, which I’ve started on by trying to cut back on social media promotion that I got heavily into during the COVID pandemic and focus a little more on quality rather than quantity.
I also want to try to reestablish a writing routine again, perhaps at a different time of day so that I can make headway on the sequel. Fingers crossed.
Marie Sinadjan Interview
Many thanks to singer, songwriter, and fellow fantasy author Marie Sinadjan for the opportunity to be interviewed on her blog:
Author Spotlight: Andrew McDowell
P.S. I’ll be giving my Importance of Names presentation once more, at the Cumberland Chapter of the Maryland Writers’ Association on the 20th at 7:00 PM EST via Zoom. If you haven’t seen it yet and still want to, register online! It’s on Facebook, too! It will also be a hybrid meeting for those who want to be at the chapter in person (my Events page has the address). Though I will be on Zoom, I hope to see you all there either way!
Dusting Off Stories From History
Many thanks to historical novelist Anne Clare for this opportunity to discuss my feelings on using historical fiction to shed light on lesser known events in history!
Guest Post By Andrew McDowell: Dusting Off Stories From History
These are feelings I hope to follow when I venture into historical fiction someday!
Writing vs. Marketing—Balancing the Scales
It seems that there are two sides to the coin of being a writer. The first side is writing process and everything related to the it, such as conducting research, sharing drafts with beta readers and critique groups, and editing. The second side is marketing. Writers need to build a network and an online presence so that potential readers will know of the writer and their creative output.
When I started writing as a kid, I didn’t give much thought to marketing. Perhaps I thought the publishers would do all of that, or it would magically take off. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I had to learn that without marketing, people outside of my family and friends would never hear of my work. If the general public isn’t aware of a book’s existence and if they don’t leave reviews, there will be no sales. Fortunately, I was able to get started on building a network once I joined the Maryland Writers’ Association and attended their conferences. I also began to build my digital platform.
I started to do a lot more online marketing as a result of the pandemic, especially by following certain hashtags on Twitter, eager to create as much exposure for my blog and books as possible. I’ve referred to WordPress, Facebook, and Twitter as the Big Three, with LinkedIn and Tumblr coming in next. Now, I am glad for the learning experience as well as for the genuine connections that I have made within my network, with people who’ve been kind and supportive. But at the same time, I feel as if I hit a roadblock—I’m not writing as much as I used to. Some writers I know had a massive creative output during the shutdown. I didn’t. Lately I’ve come to realize a simple truth: I’ve been spending too much time online, and not necessarily in a good way.
It’s easy to be tempted to check various social media accounts to the point where it becomes a habit, just like how I was creating exposure on Twitter but often scarcely interacting with other people. There’s that famous quote of how being a good writer is 3% talent and 97% not being distracted by the internet. That has never been clearer to me than now. In the past, long before I’d had all these social media accounts, I got distracted from writing by a number of things. I had schoolwork that took precedence, and once I entered the workforce, that too has taken up a lot of my time. Free time, it seems, has been taken up by the Internet and social media. In other words, the balance scales were tipped too far in one direction.
So how to find a balance? Well, I’ve started off by limiting how many times I login to each social media account to three or fewer a day, with each at different intervals (morning, afternoon, evening). It’s a start, to keep me from desiring to checking all the time but not checking enough. But I know I need to do more. I need to mind the time and online activity, and make it more meaningful. And I need to train my mind more to focus on writing when I do have time that isn’t devoted to work, social media, etc.
Now, I need to work on trying to have some output each day, whether in my journal (which I haven’t been diligent with) or editing or story work. I cannot just write when I’m in the mood, but at the same time I feel if I’m not enthusiastic, it won’t be good. Many successful writers became so from diligent, constant effort. I’m on a quest, you could say, to find that balance again and beat this writer’s block. Hopefully soon, the words will start flowing again.
The Underground Library Society
Many thanks to author and blogger Charles F. French for this opportunity, inspired by the Book People in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, where I discuss one of my favorite classic stories—why it’s so special to me, and why I believe it’s worth preserving.
Let me say it was a tough decision, for there are many good books out there worth preserving. But when it came down to it—thinking of a classic story I’ve always come back to (in this case every December) and which is special to me—in the end I knew what my choice would be.
If anyone else might be interested in joining and posting about a book that you would choose to become in a world like the one Bradbury envisaged, please consider it!
Nosh with Chef Julie Interview
Many thanks to author and blogger Julie M. Tuttle for this wonderful opportunity! Check out my interview with her if you haven’t yet!
Andrew McDowell 