Believe it or Not, Diet and Exercise Helps Me Write

One of the hardest things to manage when you’re a writer (or sit on your butt in any job for that matter) is the whole concept of working out and eating right. It’s really hard for all of us because not only do we have responsibilities but it’s hard to visualize what benefits we might get out of it when our time is so precious to us.

I’m really not unlike anyone else; I have commitments and things that I’m responsible for. Usually, it’s not the workload that bogs me down, it’s the task and time management that does. When things throw my schedule out of whack, work-outs have been the first thing to go. Probably sounds like everyone else.

I have a lot of long-term goals, one of which is to participate in a marathon. Now, I’m nowhere near that kind of athletic level currently. Just to participate in an hour-long class I’m dedicated two hours a night to get there, take the class, and recoup. When I think about what that means for my evenings, at first glance it just seems like a major pain-in-the-butt. Fortunately, I’ve noticed that it’s helping me write.

Lately I’ve had a lot more energy and my moods have been more even (believe it or not). I know, I know a miracle for any writer because really, without some tiny amount of angst how can we write three-dimensional characters? For me, I’m channeling stagnation from sitting all day to a class or machine, and my creativity right now is huge. Sunlight, working out, and cutting down on the bane of my existence (cheesy nachos…) are all contributing factors to wicked cool story ideas, awesome characters, and what feels like an inner glow.

I know it’s really easy for people to sound preachy with the workouts and the gym classes, and believe me that’s not what I’m trying to do here. I have multiple reasons for pumping iron (so to speak) but I’m on such a huge high right now I just had to share it.

Should be back to posting more regularly next week, thanks for staying tuned. I’ve also been really addicted to the idea of reorganizing lately, and I’ll throw some ideas your way about some books and free tools that have helped me. Have an awesome weekend!!! 😀

Oh Hai…Reading this Blog?

After dodging sunbeams and causing a rain of words to fall on my black umbrella…

I’m sorry to report that my blogging may be a bit sporadic over the next two weeks because I started getting some edits back on the first part of the novella I’m working on for Aletheia. While this is not a bad or a good thing, this is a function of the work. So Abstract Nova Press owns my soul, as one of the other writers so eloquently put it. I’ll have a proper write-up to promote the other two writers once we get done with this but for now—tappity-tap-tap until this is done.

In the promoting of other writer’s work arena, I had the pleasure of conducting an email interview with Tad Williams–one of the first fantasy authors I’ve ever read. He wrote The Dragonbone Chair Series, the Virtual Reality Science Fiction Series “Otherland,” and is currently working on a number of projects including the conclusion of his “Shadowmarch” fantasy novel series. Folks, this is one of the writers who is in that lucrative 3% I-write-novels-full-time-for-a-living bucket, a veteran within the industry who more than fulfills my requirement for writing big, fat, interesting books.

I’m also thinking about ways to be more specific about some of my blog posts, because I take a great deal of inspiration from the newbies out there who are putting the words on the page for the first time. It’s hard not to be heavily influenced by the lack of business-minded leadership from my college daze; while I truly enjoyed my college experiences I can’t really consider what I learned applicable in terms of writing as a business, which is an affliction many who “major” in writing share.

In other babbles, I’m resorting to cheezburger speak, guilty pleasure movies, soy mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches, the Justice League, and my idiot fuzzballs of kitty doom for intermittent entertainment. Going to see Iron Man this week–here’s hoping it does not suck. Hoping to see Indiana Jones when that comes out…I really hope that does not suck. Also going back to the gym whether it kills me or not; I can’t avoid working out and I’m excited the weather will be nice enough to do things outside but, like the rest of things these days, a bit spontaneous and unplanned.

Other than that, life is pretty status quo at the moment. Good news and change all around; it’s so easy to slip into the stream and be taken away by things you know will be positive.

Do you have any books or authors you’d like to recommend? Topics you’d like me to cover? Jokes you’d like to share? Feel free to post them in the comments and please, do not take it personally when I don’t respond to email during this busy time.

Protect your marbles and your doughnuts, folks. Things are no longer getting interesting–they’re already there.

JK Rowling Copyright Case: Why Writers Need to Pay Attention

There’s a lot of industry news about the JK Rowling copyright case but, in my opinion, not a lot of understanding as to how the effects of this case will ripple through the industry. First, let’s take a look at what this case is about from Publisher’s Weekly Article about JK Rowling vs. a Fan Site:

The case centers on RDR Books’ intended publication of The Harry Potter Lexicon by Steven Vander Ark, which is based on the Web site of the same name that Vander Ark has maintained for the past seven years.

Translation? A fan is making an “unofficial Harry Potter-verse guide” and is being sued by Rowling for copyright infringement and the specific argument is related to a concept known as “fair use.” From Yale’s Library, here’s the definition of fair use that is pretty easy to digest:
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Here’s What I’m Writing and Working On, How About You?

There are some exciting things in the pipe for me; I can’t say anything about my day job, but I’d like to share with you some of the creative and non-creative projects I’m working on to enhance my knowledge and continue writing.
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Is there such a thing as “method writing”?

Recently, I’ve been working on two projects that are both a little on the edge. One is to write from the mind of an ultra-paranoid character for a horror game that will be released at GenCon: Indy this summer; the other is to write from the perspective of someone whose memories have been ripped from her mind for my novel Argentum from The Violet War. Normally I do “some” research when it comes to character perspective, to get some of the quirks right, but I usually do my best to see the world through their eyes. To me, even small details can take on significant meanings for a character. Maybe the main character hates eggs; maybe they love Voltron.

For whatever reason, everything has just been “clicking” the past, few weeks while I’ve been writing. No more research, no more obsessing about whether or not the characters are believable. It just “is.” From a writer’s standpoint, though—why?
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