A Small Move
in which tinyletter makes us find another newsletter site that doesn't automatically feed AI
In which Crimson Climb is now available wherever books are sold
Good morning, pocket friends! It is Wednesday October 11, which means that Crimson Climb has been out for a whole day now, and I am extremely excited about...
In which redefining yourself is like the time Britain got into a fight with its tax code over whether Jaffa cakes were in fact cake or if they were cookies*
*I know. I don’t care.I don’t often go back to a lot of places when I travel. Even if it’s nearly the same, like when I did the bus tour of Scotland with Amy...
In which writing a book is not at all like riding a bicycle
Immediately after thinking of this title, I thought “well, writing a book is also pressing hard on someplace tender”, and even though it might be too early...
In which shelving a manuscript is like driving to that corner in Grande Prairie where you can turn left and get on the Alaska Highway and then going straight through
In the town of Grande Prairie, there is an intersection where you can turn left and get on the Alaska Highway. I haven’t spent a significant amount of time...
In which navigating career shifts in publishing is like playing Uno with people you love
The last time I went to visit my niece and nephew, they had a new version of Uno. If, like me, you are a traditionalist who doesn’t interact with little kids...
In which drafting an uncontracted novel is like learning to accept the passage of linear time as broken up into manageable pieces by the municipal garbage collection schedule
Sit with me for a moment.The first thing I do every week after I take the garbage out is go into the kitchen and generate at least two pieces of garbage: the...
In which I admit that writing is a privilege and then try to feel okay about liking nice things
My first big publishing event was ALA in Las Vegas, the summer of 2014. I was terrified. Not because it was a place I'd never been and not because it was the...
In which I can explain
Okay, so this was definitely supposed to be the MAY newsletter, but then my life kind of got taken over by Mass Effect Legendary Edition and, honestly, I...
In Which Writing With Depression Is Like Being In A Krill Ball Narrated By David Attenborough (You're The Krill)
The first thing about my depression I noticed before I knew it was depression was that I couldn't handle narrative television anymore. Any sort of tension...
In which having an idea for a book is like waiting for a connection in an airport
We're far enough into lockdown and having the border shut that I am starting to miss some completely ridiculous things. Like, I don't just miss my friends...
In which writing a novel is like stress baking when you live by yourself
Before this year, I would have told you that December is the best month to be a stress baker. Christmas cookies are numerous and fiddly, but most of them...
In which attempting NaNo without access to coffee shops is like, well, tbqh, I'm making this up as I go
When I started writing fanfic, I mostly did it during lectures at school. My archaeology notes were full of sketched out SG-1 dialogue and LotR character...
In which celebrating the fifth anniversary of a book is mostly a distraction because *gestures to everything*
I like to think that I would have done this under normal circumstances, but the truth is that I would have probably just bought myself a cupcake and called...
In Which Planning A Novel Is Like Finding My Brother's Cottage With A GPS
I'm a bit famous in some circles for writing entire books in a week while at my brother's cottage. It's something I am trying to get away from, now that I am...
In which the new privacy law is like Solo: A Star Wars Story (no spoilers, I haven't seen it yet)
So sometimes you just do a thing because all of your friends are doing it? And by "your friends", I mean "...some kind of law"? Anyway, you've had a million...
In which revising a novel is like going to Australia in 2018 when you left Australia in 1998
When I was 12, my dad had a teaching exchange to Noosa, Australia, and my mum, my younger brother and I all went with him. We lived there for a year. Dad...
In which promoting a book is like driving across Nebraska in October
This is going to take some explaining. So once upon a time, I was kindly helping Tessa Gratton with some background information about Canada because she was...
In which starting a writing career is like the time I went to Canadian Tire to buy myself a Christmas Tree and came home with a KitchenAid Mixer (and a Christmas Tree)
In 2008, I met a girl called Non-Publishing Rachel (I mean, that’s what I call her). More accurately, she met me when she overheard Casey Lyall (yes, that...
In which building a protagonist is like fortifying Orkney for World War II
One of my pet peeves is when readers of a book critique the protagonist’s ability to solve whatever problems the plot presents. Obviously there is a whole...