Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, genre fiction, inspiration, interviews, Thoughts, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on January 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »
My interview with the lovely Kim Lengling of the Let Fear Bounce podcast is live today!
We had a great time discussing writing, creativity, my experience with Writers of the Future and many other topics, and I hope you enjoy it too.
Check out the interview on YouTube or Spotify, and enjoy!
Pen to Paper: Navigating a Writer’s Reality – Author J.R. Johnson
Let Fear Bounce – Tossing out nuggets of hope | Podcast on Spotify
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf34, AI, genre fiction, inspiration, research, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on January 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Fellow Writers of the Future winner (2018) N.R.M. Roshak has started an excellent weekly newsletter on AI. Check it out if you’re interested in what’s happening in the field, how this tech is influencing social, business, and other arenas, or why I post results like this: Bright Colors, Happy Tone.
View back issues and subscribe here: Newsletter: AI Week.
It’s not for experts and it’s extremely readable. It’s really aimed at science fiction writers and readers: non-experts (like me) who are interested in the impact of this tech on society.
Enjoy!
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Posted in Entertainment, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #wotf39, free fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on January 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Good news, fellow seekers of good fiction, my fellow Writer of the Future David Hankins has made his award-winning story “Death and the Taxman” available free for this week only! If you haven’t already read it in Writers of the Future Volume 39, I highly recommend it.
The story is funny, well-written, and the springboard for his upcoming novel (I supported the highly-successful Kickstarter; the book will be widely released on Tax Day because David’s sense of timing is as on point as his humor!).
Enjoy!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, books of the electronic variety, creativity, Dean Wesley Smith, genre fiction, Jody Lynn Nye, Kevin J. Anderson, Writers, Writers of the Future on September 15, 2023| 1 Comment »
Storybundle, home of the “pay what you want and if it’s more than $20 we give you a whole bunch of extra books” e-book bundles, has a new bundle out:
https://storybundle.com/scifiTo the Stars Adventure SF StoryBundle
The site has a rolling roster of interesting bundles, so why do I mention this bundle in particular? Because it happens to include a certain story collection with a certain author in it (a.k.a. me, in case you’re wondering).
That’s right, Writers of the Future: Volume 39 is available as a bonus book. So if you pay more than $20 for the bundle, you’ll get e-books by the baker’s dozen, including v39.
Am I biased? Sure, I happen to think our collection is great. But the bundle is curated by Kevin J. Anderson and also includes books by other names sci-fi/fantasy fans may have heard of, like Todd McCaffrey and Nancy Kress, as well as others I look forward to discovering.
Like all bundles, this one is a limited-time offer, expiring in 20 days. So if you are in the market for e-books and sci-fi, this may be the deal for you.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, creativity, genre fiction, interviews, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on August 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I recently took part in an interview with Madilynn Dale from The Chapter Goddess, about writing, the Writers of the Future experience, and the creative life in general. I think I’ve mentioned that I’m a little shy, but Madi gave a fun and friendly interview and I had a good time. Hope you enjoy it too.
Creative Spotlight on Award-Winning Author J.R. Johnson
This is a collection of questions answered by this amazing author for her “Creative Spotlight on Award-Winning Author J.R. Johnson” article featured here. They may or may not have been answered in the live. I loved chatting with her and hope you take some helpful information away from our chat.
Thanks, Madi!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, creativity, David Hankins, genre fiction, Kickstarter, Sarah Morrison, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing, yay on August 8, 2023| 1 Comment »
As regular readers of the site know, Tuesday is my busiest and least fun day. Usually, anyway. Today I am pleased to support a Kickstarter by a fellow Writers of the Future cohort member.*
Death and the Taxman – A Novel by David Hankins (illustrations by Sarah Morrison)
The Grim Reaper, trapped in an IRS agent’s dying body, must regain his powers before he faces Judgement for his original sin.
Did I love the short story? I did. Am I looking forward to the full novel? Yes, indeed. And are Sarah Morrison’s illustrations a captivating riot of color, character and motion? They are!
If humor and good writing and fun fantasy are your thing, check out this Kickstarter!
* Yes, another one. What can I say, they’re awesome.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, Affinity Photo, art, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on August 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The week-long Writers of the Future workshop included a number of interviews touching on topics ranging from our work, how we made it to the contest, to what it was like to win. One of these interviews was for the contest’s own podcast, and we were asked to do an episode.
Constant blogging aside, I’m actually a bit shy, and I was not looking forward to talking for an hour All About Me. As I headed up to the interview room, I realized that there were already three other winners inside. It was my lucky day: all four of us did the interview together and it was terrific. If you follow this site you’ve seen Elaine’s work before, but here she talks about her history and her writing. Sarah and April are both brilliant illustrators, and it was fascinating to hear more about that side of the contest, as well as their experiences on the way to becoming winners.
Chatting with such interesting and talented women was a great experience. Hope you enjoy the interview too.
Stream episode 237. 4 Award-winning authors and artists discuss their journeys to winning
— Elaine Midcoh, author of “A Trickle in History” (elainemidcoh.wordpress.com)
— J.R. Johnson, author of “Piracy for Beginners” (jrjohnson.me)
— Sarah Morrison, illustrator of “Death and the Taxman” (sarahmorrisonillustration.com)
— April Solomon, illustrator of “Moonlight and Funk” (AprilSolomonArt.com)
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #wotf39, free fiction, genre fiction, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on July 31, 2023| Leave a Comment »
One special part of the Writers of the Future experience was meeting other writers. I’m sure other cohorts were good but our group was (obviously;) the best.
I’ve already introduced you to Elaine Midcoh, but here’s another piece by fellow volume 39 writer, Grand Prize winner and all-around nice guy David K. Henrickson.
Living Space by David K. Henrickson – Factor Four Magazine
Picking up stakes wasn’t easy for the dead. The older you got, the more connections you made. I had friends in the city I’d known for decades, some even before my death. It made relocating elsewhere difficult.
He also wrote an essay about his path to publication, appropriately titled Old But Not Too Old to Succeed!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, authoring, genre fiction, Writers, Writers of the Future, writing on July 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
What’s this, what’s this? It’s a book signing, that’s what! I’ll be at Perfect Books in Ottawa this Sunday, July 9th, between 1:00–3:00. I’ll be signing copies of Writers of the Future Volume 39, answering questions about the contest, and generally enjoying the vibe at one of Ottawa’s leading independent bookstores. Drop by and say hello!
proudly Canadian, fiercely independent
258A Elgin Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 1L9
And just for fun, here’s the book trailer again:
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Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, genre fiction, inspiration, Writers of the Future, writing on May 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Why is that, you ask? Because yesterday was my book birthday and that makes me happy. Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in volume 39, preordered, ordered, or requested the book from the local library!
It’s a little bit like a fairytale, so today let’s tag along with my Writers of the Future award, which went on a little trip to see the Hugh Comstock fairytale cottages in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Here’s the award visiting Storybook Cottage (although I digitally removed the barriers between the award and the cottage, because symbolism!).
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