To Self-Pub or Not to Self-Pub

May 5, 2014June 13, 2014Leave a comment

Back when I first began this writing journey (seriously, anyway) I’d told myself I was going to become a legitimately hardcover printed, agent-represented published author and follow a traditional route from “aspiring writer” to “novelist”. My reasons for this mindset were based on my narrow understanding of the possible success of self-published authors and the stigma that goes along with being one. The more I saw writers plastering themselves on Amazon (because they could, dammit) made me less eager to be just another drop in the piss bucket. I’ve witnessed similar phenomena in other artistic arenas: anyone with a point-and-shoot digital camera can call themselves a photographer; anyone with a mic and Garage Band can call themselves a recording artist. Anyone with access to the internet and some sense of storytelling can become a published writer… It’s a similar bucket of nonsense in a lot of instances (really, in most instances), and another example of the many ruining the respectability of the few. So I said, “Screw that. Imma a be legit, yo. Continue reading →

No Barbies in This Girl’s Drawer

April 9, 2014April 3, 2015Leave a comment

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I didn’t burn Barbies, but I can’t say I was nice to them.

I never expected I’d become an author of Young Adult novels. Perhaps it was my stubborn insistence that the subjects and themes I’d been preparing to put into a literary context were too complex and bold for a younger audience.

And then I read The Hunger Games. And the wheels started turning.

Three major YA series in the last decade have come from female authors and feature young female protagonists (Suzanne Collins, Stephanie Meyer, and Veronica Roth). I wasn’t quite so taken to the Twilight Series, mostly because I was never really into vampires, and a story which mostly focuses on relationships isn’t quite my cuppa tea. Then Hunger Games and Divergent came barreling into the scene and I was all “Hellz yeh, these bitchez be awesome!”

Still, I felt there was something missing. Continue reading →

Don’t Look Into the Light!

March 12, 2014May 6, 2014Leave a comment

…unless you’re looking into the light at the end of the tunnel. In that case, by all means, keep those eyes fixed right there, dear. Bring sunglasses.

Now, this here is the first post of this blog, and as can be expected, it’s going to feel a little awkward and contrived and all around amateurish. I feel a little like a virgin on a first date; for all we know, this could end with someone crying in the backseat of a 15-year-old Civic stalled in a Carl’s Jr. parking lot (don’t judge). I’ve written blog posts in the past, but those were about music and/or depression and adolescent self-realizations and/or whining, and we really don’t need to revisit those moments of childishness. This blog is meant for a greater purpose (oh, here we go…) because it is here that I wish to share with you my journey through becoming a novelist.

I haven’t published anything… yet. There are lists upon lists on the internet about “the best way to get published!” and they all tout the same twaddle about the importance of the writer’s social media presence (as though there aren’t enough people on the internet already bombarding everyone with ALL THIS INFORMATION I’VE AMASSED THAT NO ONE ELSE KNOWS). It’s all a bunch of baloney; we know this, everyone knows this, and maybe that’s not the point. Not my point, anyway.

The purpose of this blog is to share with you my journey of becoming a published novelist. Continue reading →