A question that comes up a lot. I thought I'd answer it.

Thought I would do a video blog this time...

​01-14-19
Starting off the week with True Colors doing well, got two more 5-star reviews and woke up this morning to better sales trends. So, this week is getting off to a good start.
 
All of that just builds on the latest work Roanen and I did over the weekend on our collaboration. It’s been a while since I worked with anyone else, and I have to say I had forgotten how working with a good collaboration partner can help a writer take their work to the next level. You have this instant feedback and expanded perspective, and when you work with someone you’ve known for so long and who you work so well with like this, the experience and the boost are that much better.
 
Roanen and I have known each other since college, back on the early 90’s, when we first took an American History class together. Since then we’ve gamed together, written together (New Essex is the setting it is because of our early work on it when we worked together at the same company) and been best friends. Life took us in different directions, but we’ve always shared that hope that one day, we could bring our original setting to life for readers in one way or another. And now that we’re working together on this, I can honestly say that I feel like I am the guy in his mid-twenties again, with the same bright-eyed passion that I once thought only youth could grant. Taking these scenes, building from each other and taking this to the page is not just liberating, it’s fun.
 
Creatively, I’ve been running into some of my pet peeves this last week, and for aspiring writers out there, I wanted to offer some perspectives from someone who has been in the creative trenches for a little while and managed to make it work.
 
First off, remember that absolutes aren’t.
 
Let that sink in for a second. Anyone who says you MUST do things in a certain way is full of it, in my opinion. For every creative “truth” out there, you can find someone who flouts that “rule” handily AND successfully. Usually someone who is actually successfully published and fairly well known. And this applies to me as well. I approach writing as a skill, I encourage writers to own their creativity, and I abhor “conventional wisdom” about most aspects of writing. Inspiration? The Muse? Excuses not to write, as far as I’m concerned. Sharing your work before it’s finished? Yeah, do it. Hold yourself accountable to finish the job. Writers block? Write anyway. You’ll surprise yourself with what you accomplish, says I. Afraid someone is going to steal your work? Pfft. Plagiarism usually happens with things that are already successful in some way, not with some work no one has ever heard of and isn’t either making money or otherwise earning praise.
 
That being said, I also know that works for ME, mostly because I also commit another writing sin, according to some purists. I write to get paid. I write fully intending to publish and hoping to make money off of it. (I know. <gasp> You don’t write purely for the love of the sacred art? <faints>) Now, I don’t write to get rich though that would be nice. I write with the hope of making a living. Doing what I love. I value my work.
 
But…
 
That’s just me. I wrote for different reasons than you might. For some of us, writing is purely recreation. Or maybe it’s an escape. Perhaps an emotional outlet, a form of therapy, or how you quiet your mind. And I would say that if that is the case, if the actual process of writing is the most important thing, then do it your way and fuck any advice I might give to the contrary. Your goals are different, and for you, the act of writing might be a form of self-care. Thus, combating writers block is also part of your self-care. So, if that is you, then yeah, just one fan, one life changed, that’s great, go do that. Because in the end, I think that the life changed the most and for the better…is yours.
 
At the end of the day, if I want to get one point across, it’s that I think you should know WHY you’re writing and understand that your goals shape your methods. That in the end, how you write isn’t so important as the fact that you do it, and that you are better off for it. I will never tell anyone NOT to write, or to quit writing. If following conventional wisdom isn’t working for you? There’s a reason for that.
 
Absolutes aren’t.
 
Excelsior!

So, what is Ben doing this week? Let’s look at his searches, both on YouTube and Google. Aside from music to listen to while I’m writing, I’ve been watching videos on primitive crafts from the Townsends channel, watching chess tutorials, and watching some other historical documentary type videos on medieval food prep, medieval armor and swords, etc.  Most of this is for actual writing stuff, too. Right now I’m working on a portal fantasy that I’m going to submit to my agent alongside a post-apocalyptic fantasy set in the modern world which is more of a rewrite than a first draft. Those are secondary projects, because my two main projects are Checkmate, the superhero story I mentioned last week, and of course, my primary project, the seventh Demon’s Apprentice book.

Meanwhile, True Colors is killing the rankings over on Amazon, already in no less than FIVE top 100 lists (New Releases for two Coming of Age categories and a paranormal & urban fantasy list, and in the top 100 overall for the same two Coming of Age categories.) It shouldn’t be long until it hits the top 100 overall in the paranormal & urban fantasy category. All of which is preparatory to saying thank you to my tribe of readers and True Believers. You are the best!

So, this week is going to be about getting words on the page for Check Mate and getting the  outline down for Book 7 of Demon’s Apprentice. And about acquiring some primitive skills just because I like learning new things and to add some depth to my portal fantasy, specifically, fire-making without matches. It’s going to be an exciting week.

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So, I thought I would post a little bit from Book Six of The Demon's Apprentice, just so folks knew I was actually working. We recently moved, so things have been a little less normal than normal. However, I am still writing, even though my office is still not finished. It's close, though. So very close. Pics soon.

Anyway, here is a bit from True Colors (title subject to change):

“Wizard Corwin!” we heard the moment we stepped off the elevator. “Wizard Corwin! Over here!” A young apprentice practically sprinted toward us, her almost-white robes held up in one hand, the other reaching out toward us. She skidded to a stop and panted for a moment before she tried to talk again. “Master Moon...moved...appointment…”


“Whoa, sister,” Dr. C said. “Stop to breathe for a second. Now try again.”


“Master Moon,” she said. “He wants to see you two right away.” She turned and headed for the double doors leading into the Council chamber, not waiting for us to acknowledge her.


“Girl’s in a hurry,” I said, moving to follow.
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“Lazarus is in a hurry,” Dr. C said, his eyes narrowed. “That poor apprentice is just trying to catch up.” We followed the girl past the other petitioners, every step earning us dark looks. When we stopped at the table outside the door to disarm, the Sentinel there shook his head and waved us forward. Half the glares turned to slack jawed stares. Only Sentinels were allowed carry weapons or focuses into the Council chambers, and both Dr. Corwin and I had a reputation for going armed most places. Okay, he had a rep for being armed, I was mostly known for collateral damage. You blow up a couple of schools, a nightclub and a city park, and suddenly you’re a walking natural disaster.

Usually, I'm all too ready to type away, but this time, I'm gonna let my face do the talking....

There are some moments that are hard to describe, or even pin down, but they seem to define your life in that particular moment. One of those moments of clarity happened Saturday. I found myself sitting at a table in a coffee shop with a group of other creatives, discussing a project, and I realized that this was one of the moments I had dreamed about more than twenty years ago, when I first started chasing contrails.
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May of this year marked 2 years that I’ve been writing for a living. This year, I’ve been fortunate enough to be a guest at almost every sci-fi con or show I’ve attended, a marked difference from previous years. While I’m still not doing DragonCon as a guest yet, I am hopeful that will come one day soon.

But no matter where I am on this journey, there are moments when I find myself looking around myself in wide eyed wonder at what I’m doing, as if I’m just realizing what’s happening. These moments of self-awareness are valuable to me, because they keep me grounded and, most importantly, they are reminders of just how lucky I am. Plus, they allow me, two years into writing full time, to enjoy this journey almost as much as I did the first day I walked out of my old day job and started this journey.

Saturday morning, I sat down with the folks to talk about doing the audio books of The Demon’s Apprentice for me. And while we were discussing the nuts and bolts of the project, I looked around me and realized how cool this moment actually was. I was making plans for an audio book, using words like revenue stream correctly, and making a living as a writer. Holy crap! I’m living my dreams!
It’s one thing to look back on a moment with nostalgia years later and realize how good things were. But it’s quite another to realize as things are happening that this particular slice of time is going to be one of those memories. It adds a sense of immediacy to what’s going on, and I find myself noting things that I might otherwise have missed. The sounds going on in the background, the view out the back windows, the children running by laughing gleefully. How very blue the sky was in that moment. All of these things are going to stand out in my memory, as well as the people I was talking to.
More importantly, I find myself grateful for the smallest things. As I looked around the room, I noticed younger folks with their laptops and sketch books. One girl was working in pencil, with her laptop open to a tutorial. Seeing them was incredibly inspiring, especially since they had tools I didn’t have access to in 1993. It made me want to tell each and every one of them, “Go all in! Never give up!” Because persistence pays off. Passion pays off, if you’re persistent. And integrity will keep you in the game when nothing else seems to be going your way.

But when the wheels finally turn, and the dice come up sevens for you, don’t forget to be aware of each moment. There is a line about happiness in Fallout 4, spoken by Kellogg, one of the first antagonists you face. “The thing about happiness is, you never know you’ve got it until it’s gone.” But that doesn’t have to be the case. Because if you teach yourself to be aware of your circumstances, to be grateful for the good things going on, you’ll know when you’re happy. You’ll know when you’re living through times that you’ll look back on and remember as “the good old days.” And you can enjoy them all the more for that awareness.