Why is the one we want always on the bottom?
Archive for the ‘writing life’ Category
I think I can I think I can: the lore of lost books
Posted in Book collecting, Books, writing life, tagged books, bookshelves, collecting books on March 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »
He thought he could swim: the hopes, dreams and ambitions of Diver Smurf
Posted in collaboration, Goal setting, indie publishing, middle grade fiction, series writing, writing life, tagged Boxed sets, dreams, editing fiction, Goal setting, marketing middle grade fiction, middle grade fiction, writing on February 17, 2016| 1 Comment »
This is a story about a book, well, three books really, and a boxed set, and dreams of riches and infamy, and it goes like this:
Once upon a time we had an idea, and another one, and another one, so we wrote ’em down and turned ’em into books, and people bought ’em, well, some people bought some of ’em, and I’m guessing they would have bought all of ’em if we had kept the dream alive.
But
Editing needed to be done
And time passed
And like all once upon a time stories, our dream disappeared into Netherland with Peter Pan and stayed a childhood fantasy forever
Until one day, reality hit. Dreams only become reality if you do the work.
Or, in Diver Smurf’s case, learn to swim.
Merinda’s Gold, Book 3 of our Cracker Mystery Series, is alive and swimming towards publication.
Anyone wanna buy a boxed set?
Melinda Hammond and me – the ultimate insult of Amazon
Posted in Choosing the writing life, marketing books, platform, pseudonyns, romance writing, starting over, writing life, Writing romantic fiction, tagged amazon, indie publishing, Melinda Hammond, middle grade fiction, Richard Hammond, The writing life, What's in a name? on February 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Just received this email from Amazon’s automated preference service. Alas, no The Miner’s Wife.
A bit sad really, if it wasn’t kind of funny…can’t wait to see what happens to my ‘Around Australia in 8 Romances’, except I’ve wised up and they will be published under Mel Hammond.
And to make matters worse, my co-author is equally as infamous, sort of…ever heard of a bloke who carried a fridge around Ireland??
From here on in just call us Lindy and Dick😇
The idea of perfection – my ideal writing week Day 1
Posted in writing fiction, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged Armidale, daily word count, inspiration, The writing life, writing on January 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The benefits of writing off-grid and offline
Posted in Choosing the writing life, location free living, Simple living, simply writing, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged Camping Australia, Sofala, technology free living, The writing life, Upper Turon, writing offline on January 17, 2016| 2 Comments »
Missed opportunities et al
Posted in Choosing the writing life, homeschooling, Simple living, simply writing, Stories, Writing, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged a writer's life, homeschooling, RVing with kids, the business of writing, The writing life, Writing in Australia on January 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »
It’s thirty something degrees today and we decided to go for a swim at the local dam, Carcoar Dam for those that know the Bathurst/Orange area of NSW.
What we didn’t count on was people wanting to buy our books – and our writing courses.
The problem was our vehicle.
And me.
Before I launch my online writing courses I read that I needed three of ’em and so I’ve waited.
And procrastinated.
And missed an opportunity to upscale my business, damn it!!
A lady named Darlene is heading around Australia with her hubby and three kids.
And they all wanna write.
And they saw my vehicle.
And.
10 things you need to know before turning pro
Posted in book publishing, Choosing the writing life, indie publishing, Time to write, writing fiction, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged professional writing, the business of writing, The writing life, writer entrepreneurs on January 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
- Attitude matters
- Education is an investment
- Giving is better than receiving
- Values cultivate respect
- Word-count matters – without content you have no business – see Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield
- There is no such thing as perfection
- No one is laughing at you, in fact, most of us a rooting for you
- If at first you don’t succeed – see ‘The 1000 Day Rule: What Living the Dream Really Looks Like’ by Dan Andrews
- Surround yourself with experts (Jane Friedeman, Janna Penn and Dan Blank to name a few)
- Look back and see how far you’ve come – celebrate!!
Writing on the road…goals and ambitions for 2016
Posted in Choosing the writing life, Fiction, indie publishing, location free living, marketing fiction, middle grade fiction, romance writing, series writing, simply writing, Time to write, writing fiction, writing life, Writing romantic fiction, tagged Jason Kong, Joanna Penn, Joel Friedlander, Marketing Fiction, writing goals, Writing on the road, writing tools on January 8, 2016| 2 Comments »
Every new year brings good intentions and great ambitions. This year, it’s eight novels, equalling 480,000 words, with the grand title of Project Romance: Around Australia in 8 Romances.
With such an ambitious project, I’ve invested in a few tools to help me. One is Joel Friedlander’s Book Planner which will help keep my book publishing schedule on track. The other is Joanna Penn’s Creative Freedom Course,
You can follow my progress and learn about my fun with Book Planner and Creative Freedom over at http://www.melhammomd.com. If you subscribe to my email list you will receive a weekly email with my tips and lessons learned as I try to meet my self-imposed challenge for 2016.
Here at Growing Up Writing we’ll be focusing on marketing, both my adult books, and our Cracker & Gilly series, as well as leaning the processes of creating audible books.
Oh, and I’ve just subscribed to Jason Kong’s newsletter, Storyrally, an online Marketing For Fiction Writers forum.
See you on the road.
Writing in the rain
Posted in Inspiration, location free living, Simple living, simply writing, Time to write, writing fiction, writing inspiration, writing life, tagged Goulburn, living the writing dream on January 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Posted in Choosing the writing life, location free living, Simple living, simply writing, teens and creativity, writing life, tagged inspiration for writers, living the writing dream, The writing life on January 1, 2016| Leave a Comment »
growing up writing 