"Build a platform", they all said, to become famous and influential before you publish your first novel. Market something that does not exist? We used to call it "vapourware", now it's "work-in-progress". But I followed conventional wisdom... I joined a dozen or more platforms, forums and exchanges. I participated in campaigns to encourage Followers and at …
Tag: Science fiction
136 days – how was it for you?
Here we are, day 136 of 2013 (that's 37% of the year gone). And how is everyone getting along? So far, it's been a good year for me, creatively... TWO Liebster awards runner-up in a LinkedIn microfiction contest (on a writers' vote) my short story, "Conservation", accepted for publication spent a few, happy weeks on a movie …
Liebster Blog Award(s)
(Not the Oscars... but very, very close! Prepare for an acceptance speech!) I stand here today, honored to receive not one, but TWO, Liebster Blog Award Nominations! "What is this award?", you ask? The Liebster Blog Award is given to up-and-coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. “Liebster” is German for “favorite”. Hence this award …
A setting or a universe?
"Do you create an entire universe for your characters to live in and how much of that do you use in the actual story?" This is a question often posed, most recently by Mirjam Maclean of the LinkedIn Group: Science Fiction readers, writers, collectors, and artists. In my case...I began writing a human-based "far-future" novel (which is …
A Beginner’s Tale #2
So it's 2012 and I am trying to write a novel, despite characters seeking independence, stories inflating to epic proportions and the looming specter of SF's accursed "infodump". How to keep it lean and clean but coherent and credible? With a bound, our aspiring author was free! (New readers go back and start here) Solution …
A Beginner’s Tale #1
At time of writing, my Book Summaries page indicates that I am working on two books at once. But it's much worse than that. Grab a coffee, pull up a chair and listen to the salutary tale of a beginner... In late 2011, I had sold my consultancy and was looking forward to a retirement of …
WHY Do You Want To Write?
It's a good question. In my case, I am retired; I need not work; I could just sit back and watch daytime TV. (The horror!) The reasons why I want to write are manifold, and - yes - that early laptop is significant, keep reading! School: My schools encouraged reading and we had few distractions. Our …
Andy McKell, Speculative Fiction Author 
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