The Writing Process, Mine and Ours

This is my regular blogging day, but not my regular post. Having let Gillian Hamer talk me into joining the Writing Process Blog Hop—okay, she didn’t have to twist my arm: I volunteered before realizing that meant I had to find three volunteers, at which point my eyes got that deer in the headlights look and I began whimpering softly—I committed myself to posting on Monday, March 31. 

Being a Scot and naturally thrawn (which, to quote my mother, is what your friends call you when your enemies call you pigheaded), I would have gone ahead and posted on Friday anyway, except that it was a rough week at work and I haven’t had time to answer the questions. I did manage to find three lovely writers who agreed to continue this exercise. Some of them may now be whimpering in corners, but I’m sure they’ll get over it and find three victims of their own. I’ll announce their names, tell you a bit about them and their books, and link to their blogs on Monday as well.

Meanwhile, for reading on your Friday, may I suggest a post uploaded yesterday by my buddies at Triskele Books onto the Writers & Artists site. “The Rise of the Author Collective” looks at the value of group input in creating great books at all stages of production, from writing through publication and beyond (and mentions Five Directions Press and Writer's Choice, as well as other writers’ cooperatives). If you’re considering a cooperative as an alternative to traditional or self-publishing, you’ll find some good tips here. If not, you’ll be alerted to what we hope will become the next big thing in publishing.

Either way, if you’d like to know more, look for The Triskele Trail, put out by the same group of authors (Gillian Hamer, JJ Marsh, Liza Perrat, and JD Smith). The Kindle version is already available on Amazon.com. A brand new, spiffed-up print version will be out in the summer, with an updated Kindle version available even sooner. Stay tuned for updates!

And please check back Monday for my full “Writing Process” post.