Category: Guest Posts

Killing Your Darlings: The Death of a Central Character

Author Mark HamnerGuest post
by Mark Hamner

William Faulkner famously said, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”  He was, of course, talking about having the guts to eliminate superfluous prose, chapters, etc. from your work.  However, as I was completing my third book, Cinder’s Reach, I had the task of killing one of my darlings in a very different way.  As a caution, I should note that everything from this point on should be considered a spoiler for those who are considering reading The Echo Chronicles.

My Echo Chronicles series revolves around four central characters: Trin, the protagonist, Cipher, his best friend, Creed, the hothead, and Dalton, the nice guy.  As I progressed through the books in the series, it became clear, both in my own mind and from my conversations with others, that one of my characters had become the clear favorite.  To my surprise, that character wasn’t Trin; it was Cipher.  Something about the fact that she never stopped trying to help others despite the fact that she was, herself, fairly messed up, really drew people to her. Trin was leaning on her more and more, and she was constantly putting her own life on the line for him and the rest of her friends.  The world inhabited by my characters is extremely volatile and dangerous.  Early on the thought struck me that it wouldn’t be entirely realistic for my characters to continue getting into dire situation after dire situation only to come out relatively unscathed. Continue reading “Killing Your Darlings: The Death of a Central Character”

Kenyon Ledford: I Submit!

Ken LedfordGuest post
by Kenyon Ledford

Submission is a hideous word. In the fight world, it means, “You just lost.” In other circles it means that someone is quitting, giving up, docile, meek, a loser. How wonderful for us writers that each time we want to send out a piece, we have to visit the magazine’s online site and click “submission.” It’s almost like being on the gallows after a long manhunt: “I give up. This is futile. I submit. Kill me now.”

Fortunately, some magazines make the effort to entertain us before they slaughter us. In fact, I’ve belted out some huge guffaws reading some magazines’ online submissions rules. Continue reading “Kenyon Ledford: I Submit!”

My First Book Conference

John Kenny
Author John Kenny

Guest post
by John Kenny

For those of you who have many years of experience and well established connections in the writing community, this is all going to seem blatantly obvious. But for those of us who are new, who have come to writing and publishing through a more circuitous route, there are many strange and wondrous things: book conferences for instance.

I knew there were things for Trekkies and comic book fans. I had heard of the London Book Fair, and certain highbrow literary festivals, but I had no idea there were conferences for ordinary readers and everyday, even rookie writers. It’s not that I’m an introvert. Far from it. I’m just not much of a herd animal. It was one of my readers who told me I should look into the Bloody Words Mystery Conference which took place this past weekend, in my home town of Toronto. Boy, am I glad I did! I learned a lot, I met some very nice people, and best of all, I had a blast. Continue reading “My First Book Conference”

What Indies Unlimited Did for Me

Morgan Winters Author PhotoGuest Post
by Morgan Winters

My name’s Morgan, and I’m an author. I feel kind of like I’m at Authors Anonymous, confessing my deepest secrets. I’ve kept my writing hidden for a very long time because I write incredibly dark and disturbing stuff. In fact, it’s so warped, I can’t even discuss it here on this Safe-for-Work platform. It’s better that way, anyway.

I’d started a half dozen or so projects, finishing none of them. That’s probably not a lot compared to most of the authors who frequent IU. But for me – the “nice guy” – it was a lot, and it was frustrating. I couldn’t complete them; I knew that once I did, I’d have to publish them. And then – then, I’d get “the looks.” You know the ones I mean… OMG, did he really write that? He must be sick! What a creep! I hope they fire him. I don’t want to work with someone that disturbed. Yeah, those.

No one expects that kind of dark stuff from me, you know? I have no idea where it comes from. Sometimes I wonder if I am indeed disturbed. But I have no urges to kill or torture anyone. No urges. Thoughts, sure, we all have those, don’t we? And usually in the boss’s office. But I digress.

Speaking of bosses, I need my job. I enjoy a roof over my head and food in my stomach. But I also have stories that need to get out of my head. Trading sanity for comfort? I figured there had to be a better way. Continue reading “What Indies Unlimited Did for Me”