On submission, or, How to manage crushing anxiety
BURN CITY, a very fun (I think, anyway) book about a Medium and the ghost of his ex-ladyfriend trying to rescue their kidnapped daughter amid a city on fire, is out on submission to publishers. I’ve been warned that this is a stressful time for new authors. One doesn’t know if publishers will be interested, and if so, if that interest will manifest tomorrow, next month, or two years from now. As such, I’m simply writing something else and treating that like it will also be a debut. Whatever mitigates the stress…
Updated June 2024
Revising the revised final draft, post-edits
How many times can you re-read your own work before you’re utterly sick of it? I ask myself this as I address the–admittedly minor–editorial comments from my agent on BURN CITY. What’s worse? If I’m lucky, this won’t be my last editorial pass. There could be acquiring editor edits and copy-editor edits and quite possibly more. But do I still think these characters are bonkers fun? Sure do. Am I still excited when I reach an Oh shit! moment? Yes, indeed. And should this book ever hit press, I hope you will be, too.
Updated April 2024
Milestones
My wife got me this whiskey set some years back. I figured I should enjoy the celebratory drinks for writing/publishing milestones. I said I’d enjoy the first one when I first sign with a professional literary agent. Very excited to be now working with Michelle Hauck at Storm Literary. Cheers!
Updated March 2024
Writing like a Boss... or at least upper middle management
I’ve a tough time with the “fake it ’til you make it” mentality. I don’t disagree with the psychology; I’m just too much of a realist. Instead, I try to write like I’m climbing the ladder. If I can trick my brain into believing I’m a rising star, I’ll keep going and hopefully keep getting better. To that end, my writing group and I made this little vid. Because like the chonky cat meme says, oh lawd we comin’.
Updated Feb 2024
Writing during THE HOLIDAYS
I find that the time of year we call THE HOLIDAYS is an odd period for the creative process. Time away from work and its related responsibilities means more time to write, and yet, there is nothing relaxing, refreshing, or vacation-y about THE HOLIDAYS. It’s exhausting stress-filled chaos. (Where do I get a ‘Scrooge was right’ t-shirt?) I’m forced to create a whole new–yet temporary–routine. But that change isn’t all bad, as it spurs new ideas and directions in the writing. It also adds to the stress. So. Here’s to managing THE HOLIDAYS one day and Tylenol at a time.
Updated Dec 2023
Good Villains
I recently finished Season 2 of Amazon’s Wheel of Time. WoT is a formative book series for me (despite its, yes, many flaws). I wasn’t keen on S1 of the tv show. Loved S2. I think this is because S2 followed The Great Hunt, a far superior book than Eye of the World. And the reason for that superiority is the latter’s focus on villains. We get the arrival of the truly terrifying Seanchan, and the machinations of two of the most intriguing Forsaken (the best part of the entire epic). It’s solid self-advice, I think, should I ever get to write a follow-up to my own work: good villains = good sequels
Updated Oct 2023
The Autumn Reading Season
It is now autumn, so they say (yet 90 degrees F here in balmy Maryland as I write this). I’ve never gotten the whole “summer reading” thing. Summer is too hot, too stuffy, too sunshiny bright for heavy reading. Fall, though, fall is the season. Reasonable temps, the best holidays, the freedom to drink my coffee hot without the iced latte addicts looking at me like I’m blaspheming the goddess of watermelon and sunscreen. I have a to-be-read pile of books and a comfy deck chair I’m excited to get into these next months. Now, about that cooler weather…
Updated Sep 2023
The Long-Ignored Author Website
I’ve not updated my author website since (checks date of previous posting) the stone age of internet media. This isn’t because I haven’t had writerly things to share–see pic to the right– but because updating a website is work and there are other things I’d rather do. So, apologies for the laziness. I’d promise I won’t do it again, but that could turn into lying plus laziness and I do my best to limit my sins to one at a time. On the bright side, I’ve a short story about three separate gods of death having a business meeting, published over at Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. Do have a look.
Updated July 2023
A Return to In-person Cons
I’m not a huge con-goer. I know some authors love them, attending as many as possible and really getting into con-culture (which, yes, is a thing). I’m not one of those, as I find cons come with diminishing returns. But I do enjoy attending one or two a year. This past Feb I went to Superstars Writing Seminars in Colorado Springs… in-person. The first in-person con I’ve hit-up in 2.5 years. It was a glorious slice of normalcy that I hadn’t realized I missed. Here’s to the slow reclamation of glorious slices.
Updated March 2022
In Pursuit of the Midlist
I think often about levels of “success” for a published author. There are tiers, I think. There are the celebrity writers, the GRRMs and JKRs of the world. Below them are the millionaires. That’s the dream, right there: to make 7-figure $ writing down the nonsense in one’s head. And below those ultra-successful few are… everyone else. The Midlist is just a catch-all term for published novelists who aren’t raking in millions (which is most of them). This is where most of my favorite authors land. I like the Midlist. I want the Midlist.
Updated Feb 2022
2022, or the Year of More of What Came Before
It feels like a Doom Spiral, doesn’t it? I deeply miss normalcy (i.e. The Before Times). This winter is looking to be as bad as any point since early 2020, and yet, I’m holding onto the light. I’ve a novel on submission, which is exciting. I’ll be attending Superstars Writing Seminar (under full soc. distancing, vax-mandated conditions) to finally catch-up with some colleagues, and I’ve some fun projects/ideas in the works. We will break the Spiral–it’s gonna happen, damnit–just need to keep eyes forward. On the light.
In defense of 300 words per day
I’ve long wondered if morning people are a race of alien masochists infiltrating our society with their impossible-to-fathom bright-eyed enthusiasm. I have never known such wakeful energy, though I am accustomed to writing in the morning. A lifetime ago, I would go to my coffee-shop, order a tall brew and a breakfast taco, and knock out 1-2k words before noon. I see many writers post about their 5-10k writing days, and good on them. Myself, I’ve found that if I start approaching 3k words in a single day, quality suffers. 1.5k in a morning was fine progress for me, progress I felt good about. That, as we all know, was during a different reality. I now get up in the pitch-black of 5 am, I zombie-about the house trying to find slippers, coffee, and where the heck my mind was during the previous morning’s drafting, then struggle out a few hundred words before I’m pulled into other responsibilities. It’s still progress.
Updated Sep 2020
Writing amid Coronananana
I try not to complain. Compared with what many families face these dark days, me and mine have been fortunate. What I will complain about is how adulting in these arduous times has plummeted my writing output. I’ve lost my coffee-shop. And a home-schooled two-year-old, no matter how cute, is not conducive to productive writing. Or productive anything. That being said, I’m excited to be starting a new project (see pitch below). Excited enough to figure out a way to work on it. It’s reassuring that, even amid the hardships of our current reality, I feel excitement for a story I know will be fun. It will cost me some sleep, but it’ll be worth it.
Updated Aug 2020
Fun with Maps
As I near the end of the first draft of EPIC FANTASY STORY OF EPICNESS (working title: The False Diamond), I’ve been thinking, “Really need to draw out these locations.” As the scope of the story increased, remembering all the fictional city layouts and geographies became a chore. Sadly, my artistic skill in the craft of illustration lacks… skill. So I began perusing some open-source map-making programs, and found I really enjoy playing urban designer with AutoREALM. It’s mostly for table-top RPGs, but also works well in providing a visual reference when moving characters about a setting. Also, it’s just fun to make fake maps. The Bronze Age city of Araklion, loosely modeled after the Mycenaean citadels of 1100 BC, is one of the major locations in The False Diamond. I quite like how it looks.
Updated Jan 2020
Release from Service, the award winning novelette featured in Writers of the Future Vol. 35
Recruiters for the deadly Assyn ask candidates many difficult questions. “Would you kill a child?” is one of the hardest. Ty’rin answered immediately. Worst of all, he meant it.
“A twisty, action-packed tale of two assassins.”
-Booklist
“Lovewell’s writing had me hooked.”
-Martin Shoemaker, author of Today I Am Carey
“Layered information that builds and then reveals the character impact, multiple times over, was laid out to storytelling perfection.”
-Elitist Book Reviews
Updated Jan 2020
Recent AMA with the 2018-19 Writers of the Future
Joined my fellow Writers of the Future winners for an AMA over on the r/fantasy subreddit. See the link below to read about our experiences in the contest, breaking in as neo-pro authors, and how Black Bears are superior to Wildcats.
Updated July 2019
Podcast Interview
Did a recent interview with the Writers of the Future people about the contest, my writing, and working as a newbie author. They also chatted with several of the judges and other contest winners. Beyond my own musings, the interviews feature a few interesting takes for any early-career writers looking to break in.
Updated July 2019
Official Release from Service illustration, featured in Writers of the Future Vol. 35.
The absurdly talented Emerson Rabbit illustrated this companion piece for Release from Service. It is rather fantastic.
Updated June 2019
