The Joys of Marketing: Changing Human Behavior with Advertising
This morning I came up with an idea for a customer campaign I’ve been gnawing on this week. I was selling a product to a rather conservative industry. I wanted to come up with something fun and relevant that hit their pain points. Something interactive. Most of what I do at my day job is lead generation, but there’s some direct sales work, too. When I finally hit on the idea, it was like a firework going off: sudden burst, then glorious comet tail of delirious excitement. That’s when I know I’ve got something. I started my second two...
read moreGod’s War UK: Two Years After My First Novel, Some Thoughts
Today’s the release date of my first novel, GOD’S WAR, in the UK. It’s been a long time coming, and a process not without its hiccups. But the day’s here. I’m told book stores have ordered it, even(!), and it’s sitting out on shelves across the pond and hopefully soon, across the globe. Writing a book can be a lonely process, often done in a vacuum. You do the best you can, and you work intensely hard. I wrote the first line of God’s War: “Nyx sold her womb somewhere between Punjai and Faleen,...
read moreCutting Down on Internet Noise (and Delivering Greater Signal)
One of the unforeseen benefits of reading Nate Silver’s book, The Signal and the Noise, was that it encouraged me to take a look at the way I was consuming information. As somebody working in marketing, I live on data. We need to know what our target market wants, how they talk, where they go (so we can market to them there), when they click, why they click, when they call, why they call, etc. etc. There’s an astonishing amount of marketing data out there now that I churn through at work in order to craft better marketing messages –...
read moreBlue, Blue Heaven
If you’re a spec fic writer, you’ve probably heard of Blue Heaven, a novel writing workshop/retreat that’s been running for 10 years now. I’d never been to Blue Heaven, but was familiar with the format. What I appreciated at this particular point in my career is that, unlike Wellspring last year, this one wasn’t solely a workshop anymore, but more of a writing retreat. After the last month (really, the last year) I’ve had related to the business side of publishing, getting away from the daily grind of life...
read moreHiding About, With Bonus Creatures
Have gotten more done on new book in three days than I have in four weeks, which I suppose is the sign of any good writing retreat. I’m somewhere in North Carolina, enjoying very Pacific-Northwest-like weather. I also have limited access to wi-fi (mostly self-monitored, but the wi-fi really is kinda spotty), hence the radio silence. Also, they have these crabs here. Enjoy some crabs.
read moreWhat You Should Be Reading
And now, back to why it is we’re all here in the first place. Here’s what I’ve been reading, and some recs. THE DINNER I don’t read a lot of literary fiction these days, but the idea behind this one – that you’re introduced to a character you have some sympathy to begin with who you slowly realize that, uh, maybe you shouldn’t… is really done exceptionally well. This unreliable narrator reminded me a lot of American Psycho (the violence here is not nearly as...
read moreDeal/No Deal: Why I Am Considering the Skyhorse/Night Shade “Buyout”
I’ve been reading a lot of responses to the “deal” proposed by Night Shade Books and Skyhorse/Start Publishing, and as pretty much everything has been leaked every which fucking way (kicked off, no less, by a stupidly inaccurate and ill-timed Tweet by one of Night Shade’s own owners, which should surprise no one used to dealing with them). Myself and dozens of others have collected a lot of information and shared it round with folks affected. And amid all the chatter, what gets me is how everybody goes on and on about how stupid...
read moreEating the Pie
Most folks know that I’m a type 1 diabetic. The type I have is an immune disorder – my white blood cells decided to attack and eat the cells in my body that produce insulin. This means I’ll die without taking multiple daily shots of insulin. Blood sugar naturally goes up due to all sorts of things, including stress and circadian rhythms, but primarily, blood sugar rises when you eat. When I eat, I have to take insulin or my cells will effectively suffocate and starve, sending me into a coma, then death. I’ve lived with...
read moreNew Trilogy Sneak Peek: What I’m Working On
I’ve had some questions about what I’m working on (what, three books in two years IS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU??), so here’s a peek at the (still a tad rough) prologue to Forging the Mirror Darkly, the first book in my Worldbreaker Saga, which I’m on track to complete by the end of April. After that, it’s off into the big, bad world to find it a home. Wish it luck! Prologue Because ruin came so often from the sky, no on one in Saiduan watched the sea as the invaders came in on the morning tide. The dread...
read moreBurt Wonderstone and the Pitfalls of “Ironic” Misogyny
NOTE: some spoilers, sexual assault triggers I went out last night to see the Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a cute little movie about a couple old-school buddy magicians dueling with Criss-Angel-stand-in Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) for fame and fortune. It was all right. I’ve lost my patience with people who hate everything. It had some funny moments, and everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun. But there’s this thing about modern stories that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. There is one female character in the entire show. The only...
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