It’s not every day you get to take over a famous author’s blog. I’ve actually done so a few times in my coming onto the writing scene (hello to those readers who are here because of that!), and each time so far it’s come with a pretty specific “write about this” guideline.
Last night, I had the honor of being able to post on Dragon Award nominated horror writer Declan Finn’s blog. He’s just released the 3rd book in his Love at First Bite series and will be rereleasing his Catholic adventure thriller novels later this year, which I’m very excited to get an opportunity to read. This assignment came with a “write whatever you want” instruction.
An open ended world, no rules! This is difficult for an author. I find we work a little better under constraints. I hemmed and hawed over what to write, how to differentiate it from my standard posts on my own blog. I was told Declan likes to write about art, culture, film, music, things that I don’t touch on very often over here. That gave me an idea.
Of course, as a serious science fiction author, when an opportunity like this strikes, I know I must put my best foot forward. I have to show utmost professionalism if I’m going to be respected within the writing community and by potential readers. This writing is not just a reflection on me, but a reflection on a great author like Declan Finn. Blogs like this are how a person like me earns trust. It’s a heavy burden in a lot of ways. I have one chance for these authors and readers to see who I truly am, and for them to understand that I am worthy of their ranks, that I understand who the audience is and what they stand for.
So I decided to write about generic Japanese cartoons aimed at teenage girls: http://www.declanfinn.com/2017/02/generic-shoujo-garbage-i-think-i-love.html?m=1
(I’ll also be appearing on Declan’s radio show on Sunday. Stay tuned for details!)
Leave a Reply