tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-172216742011-11-27T18:23:14.648-05:00Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.comBlogger671100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-90833039547678017542010-09-10T12:35:00.002-04:002010-09-10T12:38:41.511-04:00

I know I haven't been posting here much lately, so it's not going to be a huge change. However, I'm working on creating an author Website for myself, and in the process, I'm creating a new blog, with the intention to post regularly, three times a week. We'll see how it goes.I'll keep this site here, for anyone who might visit the old posts, but I'm not planning on any new ones.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-15901717656814850322010-07-02T12:10:00.000-04:002010-07-02T12:11:32.783-04:00

Words for month: 16,858. Daily average for the month is 562 words, for the year is 448 words. Wrote 13 of 30 days. Words were split between SF novel, a short story, a book review, and novellas.No outline work this month, though I did start typing in the SF novel (which I've been writing longhand) so I can figure out what plot holes I've left in what's written so far.Short stories: Wrote book

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-9966664336171005882010-06-01T11:01:00.000-04:002010-06-01T11:08:00.421-04:00

Words for month: 27,064. Daily average for the month is 873 words, for the year is 425 words. Wrote 27 of 31 days. Words were split between SF novel (6,703 words), fantasy novel (4,406 words), and short stories and articles.Outlines: Made limited progress on novella outline.Short stories: Wrote 6 stories for SAD, plus the first 621 words of another. Oh, and an article plus a book review for

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-38054532479344809142010-05-29T13:38:00.004-04:002010-05-29T13:41:03.759-04:00

This weekend marks Memorial Day in the United States, a day to remember the men and women who fought and died in the armed forces. If your story is set in a different world, do they have a similar custom? How do they remember those who died for their land? If it's set in our world (or some near variant thereof), does Memorial Day mean anything for your characters besides an excuse to go shopping

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-86065909118302618782010-05-29T13:37:00.000-04:002010-05-29T13:38:03.046-04:00

Enjoy!Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e May 28 2010Rejection, fan fiction, e-books, and piracy.Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting LinksPosted while she's off at BayCon: life, science, publishing, writing.SFSignal:SF Tidbits for 5/28/10SF Tidbits for 5/27/10SF Tidbits for 5/26/10SF Tidbits for 5/25/10SF Tidbits for 5/24/10The usual wonderful

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-13484641190212014122010-05-21T16:25:00.004-04:002010-05-21T16:49:19.306-04:00

Trying to get back into regular posting.Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e May 21 2010A market list, time management, why some people stop reading, and more.Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting LinksSubmissions, rejections, and whether you can make a living at writing.SFSignal:SF Tidbits for 5/21/10SF Tidbits for 5/20/10SF Tidbits for 5/19/10SF

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-53011656426674765682010-05-18T17:11:00.001-04:002010-05-18T17:13:44.607-04:00

Everyone knows there's a lot of information on the Web about writing -- both craft and business. Lately (well, okay, starting at the end of last year -- I can be slow to post), I've noticed that there are a few different books being blogged that are well worth following.Dean Wesley Smith: Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing --- DWS is a lot of the inspiration for me to actually get moving on my

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-90482567969426043902010-05-14T16:37:00.002-04:002010-05-14T16:40:56.848-04:00

There are many stories of changes that bring powers to the world -- comets, genetic shifts, artifacts, magic. One day, people wake up and everything has changed.Suppose that in your world, something happened to create people who could do things beyond the merely human -- but only those who had never dreamed of such a thing happening, who had never wished to be superheroes or gods or genetic

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-86178642068385003742010-04-30T16:44:00.003-04:002010-04-30T16:49:27.175-04:00

Words for month: 5,080. Daily average for the month is 169 words, for the year is 309 words. Wrote 12 of 30 days. Words were split between an SF and a fantasy. Still trying for a page a day, but didn't do well on it this month.Editing/submitting: Typed in edits, wrote a synopsis and cover letter, did an audio pass, and sent off a partial.Outlines: Made progress on novella outline and

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-20779877507509857212010-03-31T15:30:00.003-04:002010-03-31T15:34:51.130-04:00

Words for month: 12,351. Daily average for the month is 398 words, for the year is 356 words. Wrote 24 of 31 days. Most of the words were on January's new idea, but 3,132 were on last year's NaNo. The page a day thing seems to be working reasonably well.New cozy mystery series idea attacked me, so I've been making some notes on it.Short stories: No writing on any.Submissions: 12 short stories, 1

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-66823812757212522772010-03-26T13:49:00.003-04:002010-03-26T13:52:55.400-04:00

Your character has just pulled an all-nighter. Why? Did he have a work deadline to meet? Did she just met the new love of her life? Were they plotting revenge against the cook who refused third helpings on desserts, even though they're royalty?And what effect is this having on the character? Sleepy, barely able to keep his eyes open? In a towering rage if someone looks at her sideways? Smearing

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-26622820466259274902010-03-19T16:25:00.003-04:002010-03-19T16:43:44.016-04:00

Did I really forget about this completely last week? Ay-yi! I'm not doing so well with that "regular posting" thing. Will keep trying. Did not visit as many blogs this week, so there are fewer links. Sorry.Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e March 19 2010A lot on pitches and queries this time, but some other interesting links as well.Margaret McGaffey Fisk

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-28982695263887258792010-03-14T15:50:00.002-04:002010-03-14T16:03:54.768-04:00

I see I forgot to post my writing progress last week. I'm not going to do it now.Another week with a fair bit of freelance work, but I did manage to write at least a page on M 6 days out of 7 (1,947 words for the week) and a small bit on Jim Bob 3 days of the week (347 words). Thinking of perhaps setting Jim Bob aside while I'm focusing on getting other novels edited and out the door.Heard back

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-14162470476897090092010-03-06T20:35:00.003-05:002010-03-06T20:41:23.808-05:00

Many times in history, one country has invaded another, taken over -- and left the previous head of government in place as a puppet. If your character is such a puppet, how does she feel about it? Do the common people know that he's a figurehead? Is she blamed for what happened? Resented? Are there plots to take back control, and if so, do they involve your character -- actively, as a target, or

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-18516926703541703302010-03-06T17:54:00.002-05:002010-03-06T18:17:29.201-05:00

Running a day behind here. Oops!Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e March 5 2010Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting LinksSFSignal:SF Tidbits for 3/05/10SF Tidbits for 3/04/10SF Tidbits for 3/03/10SF Tidbits for 3/02/10SF Tidbits for 3/01/10Jay Lake:Link salad under the mossy giantsLink salad loiters by Lake Quinalt in the OlympicsLink salad is

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-69901991001091920932010-02-28T16:31:00.002-05:002010-02-28T16:34:32.666-05:00

Okay, the pun was probably unnecessary. They usually are.Your characters have been trapped somewhere by a winter storm -- a cabin, a car stranded on a freeway, the convenience store downtown, or whatever location is appropriate. What do they have with them that will help them survive? What do they wish they had? Can they last until help arrives or the snow and ice melt?

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-67893267130029113892010-02-28T13:12:00.004-05:002010-02-28T14:05:39.709-05:00

I was just going to do the weekly progress, plus the week before that, since I remembered not posting last week. Imagine my surprise to realize I haven't posted my progress since February 6! At this point, rather than posting three weeks' worth of progress and then posting the monthly progress, it made more sense to do a single post.Words for month: 9,195, mostly a page a day on a single novel,

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-85088183209445672852010-02-19T14:50:00.002-05:002010-02-19T14:52:02.379-05:00

Or are you? This one comes directly from my spam folder. I received an e-mail with the subject line "Is it true you are dead?" Write a story around such an e-mail. Bonus points for not making it a variation of the Nigerian inheritance scam.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-61521801679638409532010-02-19T14:19:00.003-05:002010-02-19T14:48:28.139-05:00

Hope everyone had a great week and weekend. Time for another link round-up.Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e February 19 2010Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting Links(These are last week's links, as this week's aren't up yet. I love the research section!)SFSignal:SF Tidbits for 2/19/10SF Tidbits for 2/18/10SF Tidbits for 2/17/10SF Tidbits for 2/

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-14794128578010474342010-02-17T09:56:00.001-05:002010-02-17T09:59:18.864-05:00

I posted con reports on my other blog: Friday, Saturday, Sunday Enjoy!

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-14175076984938911802010-02-12T09:52:00.001-05:002010-02-12T09:54:24.206-05:00

I should have mentioned this earlier in the week -- I won't be doing the links or writing prompt today, and the writing progress post will be delayed until Tuesday.I'm going to be at Boskone! Which is clearly still writing related.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-67783211140957746332010-02-07T19:57:00.002-05:002010-02-07T20:01:56.931-05:00

The week focused on my freelance work, but I did consistently write at least one page (250 words) per day, for a total of 1,957 words on the new project (M) over the week, and 37 words on a short story.Again, background reading for Sundered Sword.Squeezed in a quick crit for a friend on a short story and discussed cues for POV.Only one submission sent out. That put me, for 24 very sweet hours, in

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-78011737604285655322010-02-06T22:20:00.002-05:002010-02-06T22:24:32.277-05:00

Several times in history, the calendar has changed. For example, in 1752 in England, September skipped from the 2nd to the 14th as they finally moved to the Gregorian calendar. The beginning of the year was changed from March 25 to January 1. At other points, new months have been added.What does such a change mean to your characters if they live through it? Do they notice? Do they rail against it

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-70617606026768297282010-02-05T16:35:00.003-05:002010-02-05T16:55:28.208-05:00

Time to see what links everyone has posted this week!Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e February 05 2010Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting Links SFSignal:SF Tidbits for 2/05/10SF Tidbits for 2/04/10SF Tidbits for 2/03/10SF Tidbits for 2/02/10SF Tidbits for 2/01/10Amazon vs. MacmillanSF Tidbits for 1/31/10Jay Lake:Link salad gets ready to head for

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-36933213169138094942010-01-31T22:05:00.002-05:002010-01-31T22:13:22.263-05:00

Words for month: 10,513. Split between new scenes to old work, new ideas, and short stories. I wrote 16 of 31 days, and averaged 339 words per day (counting all the days of the month).Started outline for the next novel I want to write. Also did a fair bit of background reading, though no complete books yet. Organized notes for two other ideas so the background material is all in one place for me

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-34765902539376971392010-01-31T22:04:00.001-05:002010-02-07T19:54:49.763-05:00

Less juggling and more dropping of balls this week.No critting got done at all.Didn't make any further progress on the new short story -- which means, clearly, that it didn't get submitted for the deadline yesterday.Did write 791 words on the longer idea. (Hey, that's almost consistent progress!) Still not sure whether it's a novella or a novel.No progress on Sundered Sword's outline, but I did

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-368962025038588842010-01-29T19:35:00.002-05:002010-01-29T19:38:48.224-05:00

Somewhat more whimsical this week.Take a dwarf -- a Tolkien dwarf, a D&D dwarf, a fairy-tale dwarf, whatever your favorite type of dwarf is -- and plop him (or her) down into a modern metropolis. What does the dwarf do for a living? What thoughts does she have about the world around her? Is he making any plans to go back?

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-2034679596261226322010-01-29T17:14:00.005-05:002010-01-29T17:31:31.359-05:00

As promised, here are some good gatherings of links:Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e January 29 2010 -- Be sure to check out the comments to check for other recommendations, such as mine to Crossing Genres, a post by Michael A. Burstein on Apex's blog.Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting Links -- The writing and research links are especially good

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-11626491551430865262010-01-24T13:01:00.003-05:002010-01-24T13:08:53.160-05:00

Still trying to juggle, and this week the writing fell by the wayside.I critted 3 chapters for one friend, 2 for another.Started a new short story, as well as a longer one that I'm not sure whether it'll be a novella or a novel. This is highly unusual for me, as I always plan and outline, so it'll be a learning experience. I'm managing a page a day on the long idea, so I got 794 words on it this

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-74859090958580249872010-01-22T20:51:00.000-05:002010-01-22T20:52:34.046-05:00

As promised, here are some good gatherings of links:Jon Gibbs, an Englishman in New Jersey:Interesting posts about writing – w/e January 22 2010Margaret McGaffey Fisk:Friday's Interesting LinksSFSignal:SF Tidbits for 1/22/10SF Tidbits for 1/21/10SF Tidbits for 1/20/10SF Tidbits for 1/19/10SF Tidbits for 1/18/10Jay Lake:Link salad heads for another day of chemotherapyLink salad is a desperado

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-57389939086621952412010-01-22T13:01:00.000-05:002010-01-22T13:02:06.891-05:00

Think about your earliest memory. Now rewrite it as though it happened to you yesterday, at the age you currently are. Now try writing it as though it happened to a child fifty years from now. Now to a child fifty years before you were born.What details changed? What stayed the same?

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-33981616176691918962010-01-17T15:54:00.002-05:002010-01-17T16:00:54.901-05:00

I'm currently juggling completing my NaNoWriMo novel (Jim Bob), editing a previous novel (Pepper), planning my next novel (Sundered Sword), working on several short stories, and doing crits for 3 different friends. This is, perhaps, inefficient, as I'm not getting a lot done on any one thing at a time, but I am making good progress.In the last week, I completed one short story and a book review,

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-17932244571955371612010-01-15T14:27:00.001-05:002010-01-15T14:29:22.576-05:00

New year, new goals, all that. Right? I'm going back to an earlier one -- trying to be more regular about updating my blog. I've got friends who, if nothing else, manage to post a link round-up on Friday so they're posting. Which is nice, and I might decide to do a link round-up. Or maybe I'll just post a round-up of link round-ups.I want to aim for monthly consistency, and I'm going to be trying

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-65949853237279372942009-12-20T13:55:00.002-05:002009-12-20T14:05:30.324-05:00

This week, I tried -- well, not to do GTD, certainly. I looked at all I want to do with my time, and I tried to break up the time I have available in my working day to give me two concentrated sections of working on projects, split by dealing with stuff like e-mail, forums I frequent, and reading blogs. Then I roughed out what I thought I could fit into those slots each day.It didn't work, of

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-43403429857725849632009-12-14T16:45:00.001-05:002009-12-14T16:48:16.356-05:00

I've seen a few things lately denigrating horses-and-castles fantasy, anything set in medieval or pseudo-Dark Ages. Of course, my new idea, Sundered Sword, needs a historical milieu.The idea started with the line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "[S]trange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government." Which got me thinking about Excalibur and wondering

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-71484456061110251702009-12-11T17:13:00.003-05:002009-12-20T13:47:18.599-05:00

Last week, my friend Bonnie wrote a post on impaired executive function, which focused on her knowing what her goals are but needing to figure out how to get herself to focus on them on a day-to-day level. We had a lot of back-and-forth in chat about setting long-term goals and how we translate that to actually working on them. I tossed off a comment about having monthly goals and drawing weekly

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-84829147723934636422009-12-09T13:56:00.003-05:002009-12-09T14:03:35.590-05:00

I took a look at my stated goals for the year, and although I've made progress on them, I'm certainly not going to get all of them met before this December 31.Edit two novels and get at least one out to agents. I edited one, sent it out for crits, read the crits, and prepared a new edit plan for it. For the other, I've read through it and prepped an edit plan/outline. Nothing has made it as far

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-56900282584022373962009-10-07T17:25:00.000-04:002009-10-07T17:26:31.916-04:00

Yes, it's that time of year again.My co-ML (Hi, Nicki!) started a WordPress blog for us (http://lvpanano.wordpress.com/). I've put up two posts this week on preparation:Plotting vs. PantsingMethods of PlottingFeel free to check them out.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-83845416054938001432009-07-07T16:28:00.003-04:002009-07-07T16:52:21.798-04:00

Okay, I'm a bit behind on the "six month" update. I listed my goals for the year on December 31, and I'm doing pretty good so far.I have:edited one novel and sent it off for critssubmitted one novella (today)finished writing and editing one novelette and sent it off for critreoutlined my 2007 NaNo (which will probably be my second novel edited for the year)Still on the agenda:second novel

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-49198137312524447912009-06-22T17:12:00.001-04:002009-06-22T17:38:38.819-04:00

Toward the beginning of the month, I saw a note on Twitter about reviewing an issue of the Magazine of Fantasy & Science-Fiction, and I immediately went over to the magazine's site to volunteer. A free copy of a major genre magazine in return for sharing my opinions? What's not to like?When my review copy arrived, I was startled. I knew the magazine had gone to a bimonthly schedule and had

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-90464171689554703222009-06-07T14:40:00.001-04:002009-06-07T14:40:49.997-04:00

Debbie Ridpath Ohi, aka Inkygirl, has started the 1,000 Words a Day Challenge, a year-long challenge to keep yourself writing. She says she's open to having a 500 Words a Day badge, too, if enough people are interested.The rules are simple: Try to write 1000 words a day, at least six days a week.As long as you're honestly trying, it counts -- even if you don't reach it. How's that for cool?I

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-17331039437455888612009-06-05T16:44:00.002-04:002009-06-05T16:54:42.742-04:00

Almost a month ago now, I posted that I was going to be starting the revision of Witchy Woman. To refresh your memory (if you don't want to click on the link),The anticipated process:read through the manuscriptcreate outline of current statework through world-building and necessary plot expansionsupdate revision outlinehard copy edit (get rid of tics and add description at this stage!)type in

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-64944874894109574822009-05-06T17:09:00.004-04:002009-06-05T16:55:30.386-04:00

Yesterday, I finished my revision of The Christmas Tree Farm Murders and sent it off to be critted. I started working on the revision outline April 7, so that's just under a month. Not bad.I'm going to be starting the revision of Witchy Woman next, and I thought I'd talk a little about my editing process here. I started off with Holly Lisle's articles on One-Pass Manuscript Revision and How to

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-9309017452745576532009-04-26T16:57:00.004-04:002009-04-26T17:24:03.908-04:00

At the end of last month, I mentioned all that I had on my plate.I already said that I didn't get anywhere with the Nocturne Bites pitch contest. Fortunately, I can still send in the full Bite per their normal submission guidelines.Monday, I sent off my entry for the Knight Agency's Book in a Nutshell competition. Since then, I've finished my hard copy edits of The Christmas Tree Farm Murders and

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-49192691322249492009-04-07T15:35:00.000-04:002009-04-07T15:40:40.152-04:00

The short list for the Nocturne Bites pitch contest was chosen early -- 7 names rather than the 5 stated (of 60 total) -- and my pseudonym isn't on the list. I'll still finish my edits and send it off for standard submission, but I am disappointed. I thought I had a decent shot.Ah, well.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-88581382765875080942009-03-30T09:51:00.003-04:002009-03-30T10:41:32.576-04:00

Three weeks since I last posted? My only excuse is being busy with the paying work. Well, and with actual writing that I hope to get published.Specifically, I've been working on putting a blurb together for the Nocturne Bites pitch contest. I wrote a story targeted toward this line last year, and one of my goals for this year is to edit it and get it submitted, so this pitch contest is the

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-52567164849597986782009-03-10T20:46:00.001-04:002009-03-10T20:49:08.161-04:00

Today, I'm reviewing The Writing Cast, by Ivy Reisner. I've only listened to about eight episodes because that's all that iTunes has. It's possible to click on the archived months on the blog, select which entry you're interested in, and then listen to the MP3, but frankly, that's more work than I want to go through. (I tried clicking on the "Writing Podcast" category, but it left some out -- for

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-84099626494997387662009-02-17T20:46:00.000-05:002009-02-17T20:47:15.185-05:00

Two posts from me in one day! What next?This one is mostly just a "this is why I'm not around as much." It's the day job. Now, listening to Mur Lafferty in ISBW, at one point she said that if she wants to be making her living 10 years down the road by writing fiction, she needs to make time to write it now, to make that a priority. I can see her point.However, my mom raised me practical. First, I

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-61359320152167929312009-02-17T20:37:00.001-05:002009-02-17T20:37:54.262-05:00

Lately, I've been trying to catch up on back episodes of several podcasts -- at the top of the list are I Should Be Writing, Tor Podcasting, and Odyssey SF/F Writing Workshop Podcasts. It takes a lot longer to catch up on a podcast than it does to keep up, so it may take another week or so before I get to another review. I did manage to listen to 7 of 19 episodes of the Tor podcast today what

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-54994892015245271792009-02-03T16:17:00.003-05:002009-02-03T16:52:06.706-05:00

If you write short fiction in fantasy or science fiction (or both), you should be using Ralan.com to keep track of markets -- what's new, what's changed, and what's closed.This morning, I got the monthly newsletter and discovered two things: Odyssey Workshop has a LiveJournal blog, and the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series has been canceled.I went looking for more info on the YBFH and found

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-20798514914822864202009-01-30T23:08:00.002-05:002009-01-30T23:30:11.753-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much. Twice next week, I promise.Recently, I've been listening to podiobooks, and I'm really enjoying J. C. Hutchins's 7th Son trilogy. If you haven't heard it, check it out. The first book is scheduled for print release, so if you prefer the printed word, you won't have too long to wait. One of the really cool things about this trilogy is that he starts with eight

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-73727813302784765082009-01-08T10:41:00.002-05:002009-01-08T10:45:05.847-05:00

I apologize for running behind this week; I've been under the weather and working on paying work that never seems to decrease. I'll try to get back on track, but I have family visiting next week, so we'll see.* * *A while back, I mentioned the Secrets podcast by Michael A. Stackpole and said that I'd get back to it to do a review. The time has come. This podcast is a companion to his Secrets

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-13441397853059570252008-12-31T17:50:00.002-05:002008-12-31T17:54:58.317-05:00

Around this time of year, many people set writing resolutions and goals for themselves. If you have any you, please share them in the comments.My goals for the year include getting two novels edited and at least one of them out to agents, submitting one novella and one novelette (different markets), reoutlining my 2007 NaNo so I can work at editing it, and writing a new novel for NaNo in 2009.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-15792644419922614992008-12-24T19:31:00.000-05:002008-12-24T19:32:34.508-05:00

Everybody likes gifts and free stuff, right? So in the spirit of the holidays, I bring you my list of places I look for book giveaways and other neat stuff.First: sites that give reviews, interviews, and other news, as well as book giveaways.Fantasy Book CriticPatrick's Fantasy Hot ListThe Book SwedeSciFiChickSecond: author blogs that also do giveaways sometimes.Paperback Writer (You should be

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-14726689559900600742008-12-19T19:25:00.000-05:002008-12-19T19:26:20.786-05:00

Just a short post today because I was listening to a podcast and heard something that raised my hackles. Or would have, if that weren't a cliche.The comment in question was that including eye color in fiction makes one a hack.One of the first things I learned about Scarlett O'Hara in middle school is that she has green eyes. Am I going to call Margaret Mitchell a hack? Not on your life (another

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-64848224093126613942008-12-16T11:14:00.000-05:002008-12-16T11:15:16.220-05:00

No podcast review today, but I'll post one later this week. Today, I want to talk about using allusions in writing.I like using allusions -- indirect references to other stories -- to add resonance to my writing. When the reader understands the allusion, depth is added: all the emotional complications from the original story are brought to mind and linked with the current story.However, that "

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-41530180750915117192008-12-09T16:18:00.000-05:002008-12-09T16:44:23.561-05:00

The Spoken Alexandria Project, in their own words, "is creating a free Creative Commons library of spoken word recordings, consisting of classics in the public domain and modern works (with permission). AAC, Ogg Vorbis, and MP3 audiobooks available for free download and redistribution."That means you can listen to everything from Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis to Bulfinch's Mythology to a booklet

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-76461747524775945812008-12-06T19:46:00.001-05:002008-12-06T19:47:55.453-05:00

I got a rejection e-mail the other day from Scott Andrews at Beneath Ceaseless Skies for "Falling Knight." A couple of phrases stood out in his comments: "couldn't figure out enough . . . to know why he wanted to" and "made his motives seem hidden to me." I went back to the previous e-mail I'd received from Mr. Andrews (for "Blood Brother"), and found similar ideas: "never got a sense for what

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-77468293745441192202008-12-02T19:59:00.001-05:002008-12-02T20:01:36.007-05:00

A terrific podcast if you're writing romance -- or even just have a romance subplot is The Kissy Bits. Sadly, the podcast stopped being updated in 2007. In fact, the last entry is Thursday, February 1, 2007, claiming that the podcast would be back after Chinese New Year. It didn't happen. Although Kiki maintains a WordPress blog, Kiki Fu, she doesn't mention the podcast (at least not in an entry

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-14326949529434047352008-11-24T15:32:00.002-05:002008-11-24T15:36:35.090-05:00

I know this is early, but today's post is in lieu of a Thursday post for the week.Had a good time at the con Saturday. Traffic on I-76 was bad, as usual, so it took longer to get there than Google Maps predicted. I went to the galactic empires talk, which was interesting particularly in its discussion of varying forms of empires and viable interstellar commerce. Other talks I went to included

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-6677800573581730132008-11-20T14:49:00.002-05:002008-11-20T14:53:25.681-05:00

Professional writers fall into a number of camps regarding NaNoWriMo.The ones that irritate me (Yes, let's get them out of the way first!) are the ones who sneer and say, "Well, 50,000 isn't really a novel, so these people are just fooling themselves." Why, yes, let's just tell Bruce Coville and Jane Yolen that their books don't count as real because they're too short, shall we? Or the many other

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-22288389863314378332008-11-18T13:43:00.000-05:002008-11-18T13:44:50.741-05:00

Welcome to my first podcast review. Once a week, I'll give you the scoop on what I think are some of the best podcasts out there. Some of them will be writing podcasts; others will include fiction (short and long) as well as nonfiction.First up, I bring you the writing podcast Writing Excuses. This is a group podcast by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells. Brian Sanderson is the

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-937286584294413192008-11-13T14:08:00.003-05:002008-11-13T15:47:44.905-05:00

I know that I haven't posted here for just over three years, but I'm going to try again, mostly to test whether or not I can reliably update more than one blog at a time. I'd like to believe I am getting closer to a publishable novel, perhaps under a pseudonym, and when I reach that point, I'd like to know that I can devote time to an author blog to interact with readers without having to share

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-1130517554669203962005-10-28T12:28:00.000-04:002005-10-28T12:39:14.683-04:00

This article discusses the plotting of a book -- a medical thriller backed by the pharmaceutical industry in an effort to sway public opinion against purchasing drugs from Canada. The executive who came up with the idea has been fired as a renegade, but I find the concept both amusing and disturbing.Amusing: That's one use for an advertising budget. The average author's advance is going to be

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-1129642836289537282005-10-18T09:34:00.000-04:002005-10-18T09:40:36.296-04:00

So Maripat over here took Holly's joy meme and issued a generic tag for anyone who was reading her blog to go and do likewise.Here's the meme from Holly's original post:THE SEARCH FOR JOY Search your blog for the word “joy” used in the context of “happiness.” If you cannot find the word in your weblog, you may use any of the select list of synonyms below. joy — amusement, bliss, cheer, comfort,

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-1128556650444096102005-10-05T19:56:00.000-04:002005-10-05T19:57:30.446-04:00

http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/archives/001773.html108 authors reporting, with cool stuff like a graph of how advance is dependent on number of novels previously written (apparently not at all). Check it out.SF/Fantasy

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17221674.post-1127914348088745662005-09-28T12:30:00.000-04:002005-09-28T09:32:28.093-04:00

I'm mostly creating a Blogger account so I can comment on others' blogs who don't allow anonymous posts. (Why is it anonymous if I put my e-mail or Website in the info?)I may, from time to time, post thoughts, writing progress, or even submission data. I'll just have to see.

Erin M. Hartshornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07266817608093831779noreply@blogger.com0