Category Archives: Uncategorized
Enjoy the view!
I mentioned my love of the Sunnycomb app before. I just opened it up for the first time in a while (baby’s been keeping me busy) to discover a couple of my photos made their 2014 photo gallery of best pics. I particularly like the one posted here, which is from the first time I hiked the Squamish Chief. Can’t wait to get out there again in the spring!
Patreon is the new kickstarter
I’ve talked about Patreon a couple of times here on this site, and I’m increasingly interested in it. Over at The Province, I wrote an article about creators using Patreon to build their careers. Someday I may create a Patreon account for myself, but that requires more organization powers than I currently have.
The writing life
A couple of weeks ago, I was desperate for vacation. I couldn’t write another word and wanted to do nothing else but binge watch Netflix for two months. I did manage to get some hiking in with the boy, though. Two weeks later, the boy is back in daycare and I’m bored out of my mind and want to do nothing but get back to writing.
The travelling music show
For a couple of years now, I’ve been trying to get together with Victoria writer Robert Wiersema for a coffee. He lives on Vancouver Island and I live in the Vancouver area, but we rarely manage to synch our schedules. That’s a shame, as he’s a great writer and a great guy to hang out with and talk books and music. Strangely, we found ourselves in St. John’s, Newfoundland, recently at the same time. It was rather random. But we managed to have lunch at a great restaurant! We talked a little about books and a little about music. I sang the praises of The Wooden Sky to him and promised to send him a song taster. I thought I may as well post it here because I do love The Wooden Sky and want everyone to experience them. So here you go, Rob and others.
Remember why you write
There’s a lot of talk online these days about the business of writing — blockbuster contracts, movie tie-ins, the financial benefits of self-publishing, Kickstarters, etc. I’m certainly guilty of it myself. Unfortunately, the main reasons we write — to tell good stories, to create and to reach out to other people — often get lost in all the arguments about money. It’s the way of the world.
Sometimes, though, you get a nice reminder about why you’re doing this writing thing in the first place. My second novel, The Warhol Gang, came out in 2010. It got lovely reviews but it didn’t make me rich, and it’s kind of hard to find these days. I still like it but I haven’t thought of it in a while. I’m busy writing new books, after all. Every writer knows new books consume all your waking thoughts and even some of your sleeping ones.
Yesterday, three people mentioned The Warhol Gang to me in messages. They didn’t know one another, and it wasn’t synchronized or planned. It was just three different people who saw something in the world that reminded them of The Warhol Gang and they thought enough about it to let me know.
That is worth much more than money to me.
To write a book that stays with people, that remains alive in their memory long after they put down the book, that is what every writer strives for, I think.
I’ve taken to sending messages of thanks to writers who have made a difference to me, as I want them to know their works have been appreciated and live on with me. I also want to thank all of you, my readers, for being the people who like the sort of stories I tell. The world needs more of you.
Sometimes, it’s nice to be reminded of why you write.
A sad farewell to Innsmouth Magazine
I’m kind of depressed to read that Innsmouth Magazine is calling it a day — and not only because they published my story “We Are All Ghosts.” Innsmouth Magazine was one of the smartest mags around, printing stories that were likely too weird to be printed anywhere else. The editors say the sales just weren’t there to support it anymore. I don’t know if people have had their fill of Lovecraftian stories — I haven’t! — or if it’s just the mysterious, eldritch forces of the market at work, but either way it’s a bad day for literature. It’s the loss of a great market for me as a writer, but more importantly, it’s the loss of a great magazine for me as a reader.
The one good piece of news to come out of this is that Innsmouth books will continue to publish collections and anthologies. So there is still hope in a hopeless world.
Keep up to date on Innsmouth news by following editor and writer Silvia Morena-Garcia over at her blog.
ia ia ia ia indeed!
Probably my last reading of the year
Just a reminder I’ll be reading at the ChiSeries Vancouver event Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Detail are on my Appearances page.
The continuing adventures of Cross
Last week I finished the second draft of the new Cross book, which is kind of a ghost story. That’s about all I can say about it for the moment. It still needs some more work, so I’m sitting down right now to start the third draft. Hopefully, I’ll have a copy I can present to my agent before Christmas. OK, enough procrastination….
peter darbyshire 