Blog
This Writing Life 4: Prioritizing and Protecting Your Time
It used to be easy to avoid distractions. Take the phone off the hook, put up a “do not disturb sign”, turn off the TV and don’t answer the door. Problem solved. Yeah, I’m old. These days, we live in a state of constant distraction, thanks to the Internet and all it...
Marketing True Magics 4: Cutting Through the Clutter or: Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick Two.
I spent 15 years as an actor before my daughter was born. Chances are you’ve never heard of me. Most actors aren’t stars. But that’s all right. I’m not bitter at all. I don’t still pine for it like a Norwegian Blue pining for the Fjords. …But enough of that. I spent...
This Writing Life 4: Scheduling or, Where Is My COFFEE???
The Schedule: 6 a.m. wake up 6:15 a.m. workout & light stretching 7 a.m. Make girlfriend’s lunch for work,, shave shower, eat breakfast 7:30 a.m. Check email, Facebook, twitter, webcomics and news 7:45 a.m. Daughter comes over from Mom’s place 8:00 a.m. Workout...
“True Magics” Release Date!!!
Hi everyone! We have finally nailed down our release date for True Magics. We had hoped to have it ready for fall 2014, but after consulting with my editor and publisher at Dragon Moon Press, we have all agreed to push it back to ensure the book is at the level of...
Marketing True Magics 3 – Social Media or What Fresh Hell is This?
Ah, social media. We love you. We hate you. Especially Facebook. We all love hating Facebook. But social media is here to stay and needs to be integrated into any marketing campaign. This leads to some issues... So, So Many Choices… Social media is a massive...
This Writing Life 3: Making a Living
Every now and then I sit back in my kitchen chair, look around with surprise and wonder how I got this lucky. Because I am, make no mistake about it. Hard work is no guarantee for success. If it were, there’d be a lot more successful people in this world. I worked...
Marketing True Magics 2: It’s Not Just the Book
To review: I have finished True Magics, third book in my Magics Trilogy (you can buy Small Magics and Cold Magics here), I have a contract to have them published this fall, and I have time to build a proper marketing campaign. So what do I do next? Being a good little...
This Writing Life 2: How I Got Here
The final step was losing my job. The first step was thirty-five years earlier in grade 3 at William Grayson School in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, when I decided to write a book. It wasn’t original – the characters and stories came from comics I was reading. It probably...
Marketing “True Magics” 1: It’s Written! Now What?
I’ve got True Magics written! It’s done! And I have a contract with a Dragon Moon Press to publish it! This is amazing! It’s wonderful! It’s… … the third time I’ve done this. And yes, it is still cool. My first published novel was Small Magics (2007), my second...
This Writing Life 1: Introductions
It's 8:30 a.m. and I am at my desk. Well, desk is a misnomer. I'm sitting at the kitchen table in our apartment in downtown Toronto, Canada. But this table is where I work, so until the family comes home it’s my desk. My name is Erik Buchanan. I’m a professional...