This morning, Dominish Books gave an unexpected but appreciated nod (at 2:36) to the first line of Jem, a Girl of London (above), entered in this year's Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO. An explanation of SPFBO is here (dated 2018, but current) and a blog written by the contest's founder, Mark Lawrence, can be found here.
A tip of the hat to Mr. Lawrence and to Dominish Books.
*****
And now, I tip my hat over my eyes and stub my toe in the dirt to mumble that I have been remiss in keeping up this blog, having sunk into the pandemic feet-first and lacking the energy to slog out of the slough. Lately, I have been coming back, poco a poco, approaching the merry-go-round and trying to decide whether I want to jump back on, how to jump back on if I decide to go for it, wondering whether anybody even reads anybody else's blog. Or their posts. Or their books. Or.... (Personally, I appreciate the wise, dreamy yet down-to-earth posts of ex-cop Tim Cotton. But I digress.)
Regardless, I just paid to renew this site. So.
My beloved editor was the one who suggested that I post the Dominish notice here, knowing as she does that I am horrible at self-promotion. Horrible.
My attitude has always been, "Here's this thing I made. Look at it if you want to, but if you don't, that's fine too." I don't want to be one of those people who crow about my Wonderful Self and the Wonderful Things I Do, because I was raised in a part of the country where it's tacky to brag on yourself. The classic comedy show, SCTV, featured a character named Stuart (played by Michael McDonald) whose tag line was "Look what I can do!" and then Stuart did something totally lame. I don't want to be a Stuart. If I had to Tik my Tok, I wouldn't.
The thing is, it's not really fine if people don't read what I write. I write because even though I put in a whole lot of seat time to write a book or a story (or a blog post), it's fun to make a thing, to know that the thing I made could not have been made by anybody else. It's fun when somebody likes it.
Partly, I write for the same reason I put up holiday decorations every December: To make a little light. To make a little joy. To give a little lift. It's fun to hear little kids outside my house on a snowy winter night "ooh" and "ahh" when the lights come on.
So thanks, Dominish Books, for the "ooh" and the "ahh."
A tip of the hat to Mr. Lawrence and to Dominish Books.
*****
And now, I tip my hat over my eyes and stub my toe in the dirt to mumble that I have been remiss in keeping up this blog, having sunk into the pandemic feet-first and lacking the energy to slog out of the slough. Lately, I have been coming back, poco a poco, approaching the merry-go-round and trying to decide whether I want to jump back on, how to jump back on if I decide to go for it, wondering whether anybody even reads anybody else's blog. Or their posts. Or their books. Or.... (Personally, I appreciate the wise, dreamy yet down-to-earth posts of ex-cop Tim Cotton. But I digress.)
Regardless, I just paid to renew this site. So.
My beloved editor was the one who suggested that I post the Dominish notice here, knowing as she does that I am horrible at self-promotion. Horrible.
My attitude has always been, "Here's this thing I made. Look at it if you want to, but if you don't, that's fine too." I don't want to be one of those people who crow about my Wonderful Self and the Wonderful Things I Do, because I was raised in a part of the country where it's tacky to brag on yourself. The classic comedy show, SCTV, featured a character named Stuart (played by Michael McDonald) whose tag line was "Look what I can do!" and then Stuart did something totally lame. I don't want to be a Stuart. If I had to Tik my Tok, I wouldn't.
The thing is, it's not really fine if people don't read what I write. I write because even though I put in a whole lot of seat time to write a book or a story (or a blog post), it's fun to make a thing, to know that the thing I made could not have been made by anybody else. It's fun when somebody likes it.
Partly, I write for the same reason I put up holiday decorations every December: To make a little light. To make a little joy. To give a little lift. It's fun to hear little kids outside my house on a snowy winter night "ooh" and "ahh" when the lights come on.
So thanks, Dominish Books, for the "ooh" and the "ahh."
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