I found myself wondering how my neighbours were doing the other day (which is rare for me, I must be honest).
I then thought to myself “this can be a crap time of year for a lot of people – Christmas comedown, S.A.D, debt from last year and just feeling blah with the dark days/dark nights etc”.
I know it’s only a little thing but I put a notice up on our communal message board in the hopes that it might make someone feel a bit better. I thought it was worth sharing here too:
Just a heads-up to let you know that my partner Rob Luckett and I have a table at this year’s Thoughtbubble Comic Art Festival in Leeds!
Thoughtbubble was the very first con Rob and I ever tabled, and it’s absolutely one of the highlights of our year. If you love comics – both big publisher and indie – you’re bound to find something to your liking. If you’re attending, do pop along to table #36 in the Leeds Town Hall marquee to say hello and pick up a Bumstorm comic or two!
Look out for this here banner created by Rob:
We’ll also have copies of our Regular Show graphic novels to buy (each signed at no extra cost). Please do bring along your Ed Edd n Eddy comics, DVDs or other merchandise for signing. Or y’know, come by for a gab. That’s fine too đ
Visit the Thoughtbubble website for more info on tickets, venues, panels and the wonderful folk who’ll be attending.
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Hey, Billy.Â
May I call you Billy?
Honestly, so many names have been flying about the place this afternoon in relation to you, itâs hard to keep track.
Iâll stick with Billy. I know from Alyssaâs date with you that you prefer when youâre the focus of a conversation.
Oh, Billy. Billy, Billy, Billy.
Thereâs so much I want to say, so much I need your help with.
It’s time for another cuppa and catchup! This time I invited the lovely Liz de Jager along to talk about writing YA, bullet journals and pearls of wisdom for her younger writing self…
Rachel Connor: Welcome to my humble blog, Liz! Tell us a bit about yourself and what creative stuff you’re working on at the moment.
Liz De Jager: Hi! Iâm so pleased to be here â thanks for the invite. So, Iâm the author of a completed trilogy for YA (and other discerning readers regardless of age) called The Blackhart Trilogy.
The series follows Kit Blackhart who gets thrown in the deep end when in the first book she saves a Fae prince from becoming a snack for some bad guys and then: shenanigans!
What Iâm up to at the moment: Iâm editing a new book. Itâs full on fantasy and I have no idea if its good. I hope it is! Iâve also become a bit of a crafter and mixed media enthusiast, making stuff and selling it on.
So youâve done what Auntie Rach has told you and youâre now pretty certain that itâs time to get some feedback. Letâs have a look at the different options available:
Join a writing group – there are so many benefits to doing this, chief among them being that youâll have someone to share your writing journey with, good and bad.
Today is my birthday, and it won’t be my happiest one.
Last night I was awake until 1am, crying into the warm shoulder of my best friend and the love of my life. I’d taken that same old bait my intrusive thoughts like to lay for me, and descended down that black hole of despair so many of us are familiar with.
It starts off like a breadcrumb trail, those old tapes on repeat:
failure…delusional…stupid…give up…
failure…delusional…stupid…give up…
failure…delusional…stupid…give up…
Itâs not always easy to know where to go for feedback. Luckily in the age of the internet, you can barely move for places, groups and communities who would love to read your work.
The tricky part is figuring out what kind of feedback works best for you.
Over the years, Iâve heard a lot of writers talk about voice.
âOh, I love this book, itâs so voice-y!â
âThe agent rejected my manuscript because they couldnât connect to the characterâs voiceâ.
âEvery character had the same voice. I couldnât tell them apart.â
So how exactly do you define a story or characterâs voice? What do people mean when they say a writer lacks voice or writes in a really voice-y way?
Winning used to mean everything to me.
I was brought up in a household where if I wasnât the best in my class, I wasnât anything. I went to school with kids who would literally tear one anotherâs faces off over a football score.
I live in a country that was so big on âwinningâ that it enslaved half the world.
The creative industry I work in is reminiscent of Game of Thrones for all the backstabbing, politics, sycophants and uneasy alliances itâs filled with. From all of that I take this very important lesson:
Winning is overrated, and isnât half as important or beneficial as you think.
It’s that time of week again, where I harangue an unsuspecting creative person into answering some gosh darn questions! This week’s victim guest is Mike Kubat, a hilarious and talented screenwriter based in L.A. You may know Mike from ED EDD n EDDY, ATOMIC BETTY and a slew of other shows for younger audiences, including Disney’s MICKEY AND THE ROADSTER RACERS.
I’ve really been looking forward to this interview, as Mike’s not only my former colleagues, he’s also one of my best friends *cue mushy feels here* ^__^
Rachel: Ey up, Kubat! Thank you for stopping by the blog đ Tell us a little about yourself and what you’re working on at the moment.
Mike: Hi Rachel! Â Very happy to be here. Â My name is Mike, but many call me Koobs. Iâm a writer, creative developer, story editor, accountant, musician (questionable) and vinyl record addict. Â
Currently, Iâm working at Disney Animation on MICKEY AND THE ROADSTER RACERS, along with a feature script, a comic book and my fabulous tan.
Morgan Hazelwood: Writer In Progress
My ponderings, research, tidbits & the nuts and bolts of good writing.
Where imagination meets reality...
My journey into becoming a feminist and other things...
Living life through words and balls.
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It's Rachel Connor 