Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, fun, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it’s within your reach. And it’ll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
― Steve Wozniak
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Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #foodforwriters, fun with history, inspiration, Writers, writing on August 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »
I love food and I love history, so imagine my excitement when I ran across this article:
How recreating ancient recipes helps one food buff bring the past to life | CBC Radio
I explored the linked video channel here:
Tasting History with Max Miller – YouTube
The recipes include a lot of interesting food, like medieval mead, garum, pirate rations, and the fascinatingly named “Hardtack and Hellfire.” Some of these items are still familiar, others not so much.
I am so down with this.
Previously, I’ve mentioned Krista Ball’s What Kings Ate and Wizards Drank, on how to feed your fantasy adventurers, but seeing these recipes come to life takes historical food to another level.
Enjoy (or at least feel happy that we have more on tap these days than sweet potato coffee)!
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, impostor syndrome, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“Are you writing a book and worried that it’s awful and you suck and everyone who said they liked it is lying to you? Welcome to being a writer!
— Jessie Mihalik
I’d say most of us struggle with those feelings, even people who are highly successful. Keep going, you’ve got this.”
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, Fiction, ideas, quoteandaprettypicture, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”
― Thomas Edison
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Posted in Favorites, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, site notes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »
For years, I was what you might call a desultory blogger. I’d pop on when I had something I wanted to note, or when I realized it had been too long between posts. Ironically, the first year of the pandemic was a particularly dry spell in terms of my online communication.
That changed in 2021. As a way to kickstart my output and overall creativity, I decided to post daily. I’ve talked about that goal before, and I’ve mentioned the benefits of sticking with a streak. It’s been a good move for me in a number of ways, but it has produced a significant number of posts. WordPress is a useful platform in many ways, but it can get cluttered. Or maybe I’ve just dropped the ball on the keyword tags, but whatever. It’s a lot.
My mother asked me for a list of my favorite posts the other day. I think she wanted to share what I’m doing with a friend, but didn’t want to overwhelm them with a deluge of posts.
That’s fair.
I do have a Favorites tag but it’s a bit haphazard and also still pretty extensive. So I put together a quick selection of some of my favorite posts and added that list to the sidebar. You may need to scroll down a little but you’ll see that the widget is called (very cleverly, I thought) “Favorite Posts.”
Now, these aren’t all of my favorites and they aren’t necessarily the most popular posts; that honor tends to go to the “quote and a pretty picture” post category, or ones that feature fluffy cats. (Maybe I’ll go back and tag those posts for easy access.)
I get it, some days you just need a pick-me-up.
But if you’re curious, check out these favorites. Comfortable with a little chaos? Dive right in with a random post.
Whatever path you decide to take, enjoy.
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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, creativity, genius, inspiration, Motivation, myths, productivity, Thoughts, Writers, writing on August 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“The more shots you get at the target, the more likely you’ll eventually score a bull’s-eye, but the more misses you’ll accrue as well. The bull’s-eyes end up in museums and on library shelves, not the misses. Which, when you think about it, is a shame. It feeds the myth that geniuses get it right the first time, that they don’t make mistakes, when, in fact, they make more mistakes than the rest of us.”
― Eric Weiner, The Geography of Genius
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, #ottweather, writing on August 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Today’s warnings:
- Risk of a tornado
- Wind gusts up to 100 km/h.
- Toonie to golf ball size hail.
- Localized heavy downpours.
Dear Weather Gods,
Please chill.
Thank you.
Your humble servant, etc. etc.
Am I posting this now in case the power goes out? I am. Now it’s back to work for as long as I can.
Stay safe out there, everyone!
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Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2023, creativity, STEM stuff, Thoughts, writing on August 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
All good advice, and the world needs more inventors because the world needs more solutions. But if you’re not into soldering or whatever and still want to create, remember kids, writing fiction is always an option!
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