May 26, 2013

Social Media and Indie Authors: How (Not) to Behave

A while back, I wrote a post on how not to respond to reviews. Oddly enough, the author who lashed out at me in the first place recently followed me again on Twitter. Which made me wonder if she simply forgot how totally wrong and dumb I was about everything, or whether some piece of [...]

On Writing Strong (Female) Characters

Every once in a while, the question makes its way around the writing circles: how to write strong female characters? Well, I’m a guy, so I probably shouldn’t be the first person you ask. In fact, definitely not. But, because I’m a guy, here comes my opinion anyway. (Right away with the gender stereotypes — [...]

Surly Questions: Michel Vaillancourt

To kick off Surly Questions for 2012, it’s my privilege to bring you an interview with Michel Vaillancourt, author of The Sauder Diaries: By Any Other Name. Thanks for the terrific interview, Michel! 1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? Hmmm.  Funny question that. I knew I wanted to -write- around [...]