Category Archives: Personal

The power and the joy of maps, fantasy and not

Posted on March 23, 2012 by joelyblack

At the end of last month, four of my friends went off to SFX Weekender. I wasn’t able to go, but they promised to report back to me on a panel of special interest to me. It was about fantasy … Continue reading →

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Planning, planning, planning

Posted on March 22, 2012 by joelyblack

Since I started to write a blog again, I’ve done two entries on what I do when I’m not working, and nothing on the actual work part of the business. I’m not usually a great procrastinator, so I thought it … Continue reading →

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Things I do when I should be working 2: Reading Game of Thrones (also including an Amnar serial update)

Posted on March 21, 2012 by joelyblack

I’m sitting here on the sofa, having just finished Clash of Kings, trying to think of a way to justify going straight on to reading Storm of Swords rather than the small pile of fiction I’d bought because it might … Continue reading →

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Things I do when I should be working 1: Epic battles with phone systems

Posted on March 19, 2012 by joelyblack

I have just spent all morning in an epic battle of wits with a broken phone system and a switchboard that doesn’t seem to know how to deal with what’s happened. I started out bright and early this morning, to … Continue reading →

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On being mentored

Posted on March 18, 2012 by joelyblack

I haven’t really written a blog (a proper blog, not just a book review), in a very long time, so I feel rusty sitting down to write this. Everybody goes on about writers needing platforms, but despite all the blogs … Continue reading →

Posted in News, Personal | 2 Comments

The Aftermath: Everything I regret doing (and not doing) in The Excision

Posted on January 29, 2012 by joelyblack

This is what happens at the end of every book. Like grief, there’s a process to finishing a book that includes the pre-finish “ARGH! Now I have to finish it!” and then the aftermath, the hours of saying to everybody … Continue reading →

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2011: Learnings and musings

Posted on December 31, 2011 by joelyblack

Everybody everywhere is doing a retrospective for 2011, apart from everybody on the other side of the dateline living in a magical future where things are fluffy and sparkly (or the vampires are) and everything is very much the same … Continue reading →

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The 10 awful sins I’ve committed on Twitter

Posted on September 24, 2011 by joelyblack

I’m in the middle of reading Grace Dent’s How To Leave Twitter. Aside from laughing so hard my stomach hurts and the neighbours think something dreadful is happening to me, it’s reminded me of all the times I’ve failed at … Continue reading →

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20 Reasons I’m not following you (or have unfollowed you) on Twitter

Posted on September 23, 2011 by joelyblack

In a mood of deep snark, I posted this more privately on Google Plus. Since it proved popular, here it is for everybody else. Once upon a time, Twitter was the kind of place where you followed everybody who followed … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Maps, fantasy maps and an awesome video about them

Posted on September 8, 2011 by joelyblack

Ever since I started writing Amnar, people who like it have asked me for maps. And ever since I started writing Amnar, I’ve been resistant to making them. “But you’re a geographer! You love maps!” True. I do love maps. … Continue reading →

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