It’s amazing how often I hear, “you’re a writer?” Or “you’ve written books?” Then to have to go on a talk about what I’ve written, how many, and so on. I don’t like that question. It strikes fear in me, and more often than not, I feel embarrassed answering it. That raises a multitude of questions.

Am I embarrassed of my writing? Ashamed of my books? Or is it that I hate talking about myself that much? Continue reading “A Novelist, Eh?” →

How’s the grand scheme progressing? Written any best-selling novels yet?

No.

Um… Written anything?

Nope.

I did actually open my word processor the other day and had every intention of writing… but I ended up playing Robot Unicorn Attack on Facebook with Jack. I’m letting distractions, exhaustion, and health issues interfere with my writing. All scapegoats, of course. By the time my wife and I get our nearly two year old son Jack to bed at night, I’m wiped out and usually ready to simply shut my brain off and go to bed. There’s nothing worse than trying to write when you’re tired. Every single word feels like garbage as it hits the page. I have to re-discipline myself, but I’m finding that harder than I thought. Continue reading “So…” →

I’ve changed how I refer to myself several times throughout my writing career. At first I was a “Writer,” because I thought that sounded proud and intelligent. But then I realized that all I wrote were books, so I changed my title to “author.” Again, that sounded smart as if I should own a pipe and smoking jacket (I tried pipe smoking… no go). But that still didn’t seem to fit. I didn’t feel like an “author.” My books weren’t about the brilliant subjects tackled by Dostoevsky, Milton, or Poe, they were about aliens, or vampires, or blowing things up. So I downgraded my status again to “novelist.” Novelist felt right. The name invoked images of a seedy, one bedroom apartment with the wallpaper peeling off the walls and mold eating away at the corners, while a lone man sits in the corner, pecking away at his old, rusty typewriter. Yeah, Novelist seemed right to me. Continue reading “To “E” Or Not To “E”” →