The following sequence was inspired by a session of the Feng Shui roleplaying game from several years ago. I was reminded of it when I was doing a first read-through of my newly arrived copy of Hollowpoint. I remain a fan of Robin Laws, but I think the guys at VCSA are taking both the [...]
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Transmedia Ramblings
Do you remember the first time you saw the map montage used to show the long plane trip in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark? That’s the kind of thing that gets me excited – seeing perfect new uses for a medium. For me, transmedia is about finding those perfect uses and [...]
New Tagline
When I first started my blog, the tagline was “Writer, Editor, Publishing Consultant”. It was a reflection of the things I do professionally, in approximately the order I wanted to prioritize them. Over the years, my actual duties for Gumboot Books and Live Your Dream Workshops meant writing was, in fact, a far distant third [...]
Transmedia Storytelling
Lately I’ve been putting a lot of thought into the emerging field of transmedia storytelling. In short, it’s about telling stories using whatever medium is best suited and then rolling all those media into a single, kick-ass product. Authors like JC Hutchins are at the forefront of this new movement, and companies like Push Pop [...]
Upcoming Workshops
In case anyone was wondering about my recent silence, it can be attributed to a trip to Mexico – trip highlights include getting married on January 3rd! We’re back to reality now, and Crystal and I will be doing a weekend of workshops in Parksville on February 5th and 6th. You can find more details [...]
Got There First
I originally stumbled onto this article via Penny Arcade this morning. Among my favorite sound bites: “… any kind of book distribution which provides free copies to people has always, throughout the history of publishing, eventually rebounded to the benefit of the author.” Now, the future of writing and publishing has been one of the [...]
It’s All In How You Look At It
or: A Lesson in Perspective I’ve been really busy with Gumboot Books and Live Your Dream stuff lately and I haven’t put much time into my novel. Crystal and I have been away at a craft fair on Vancouver Island for the last five days and I expected that trend to continue. However, on our [...]
.docx
I’m not really interested in investigating the reasons behind Microsoft creating a proprietary file extension for the most commonly used document type in the world. I expect it has something to do with struggling to maintain a stranglehold on the market, as most of their decisions seem to be based on that goal. (My indifference [...]
Comic Sans
I had no idea it was such a controversial subject, but according to this BBC article, Comic Sans can really send the wrong message.
Pitching Your Work in Person
We tend to focus a lot on the query letter side of pitching, but tonight Crystal and I are teaching a workshop for SCBWI West on pitching your work to an editor or agent in person. We thought it was especially appropriate since many writers we know are gearing up for the Surrey International Writers’ [...]
