… is hard. Period. I respect anyone who can shed pounds by changing his or her diet and physical activity … and maintain it. Anyone who wakes up before the crickets to get his or her  writing in. And to achieve that success, one needs to change his or her behavior. Seems pretty elementary, I know. But as someone wise once told me, “common sense is not common practice.”

And I hadn’t been practicing common sense. I had been focused more on my outcomes and not my behaviors. As a result, I was often disappointed in what I was achieving.

So, today is post two of my 28 straight days of blog posts (no Grape-Nuts post yet). Over the next 28 days I will reference some of the behaviors I’m looking to address. Oh, I have outcome goals, too. But like in the inspirational article, “Luck and Desire,” you won’t hear me mention those.

Last week, I started tracking all of the food I eat. And tomorrow I start an earlier wake up time so I can better tackle these posts.

Well, off to bed. I promise post three will be more … entertaining.

Some people lose days … I’ve been prone to lose a week or, perhaps, a month from time to time. Life happens, I’ve got kids …  you know the drill, right? But never six months.

Well, since visiting New York in September (and hanging out with writer friend Miranda – and receiving some nice remarks from her, as well), I noticed I unplugged from just about every social media outlet and stopped doing some other things I cared about — namely writing. (And don’t blame Miranda, it’s not her fault I’ve been silent.) Though, there was an irony to her post where she gives me some praise.  It was titled “Seeing Clearly.”

And I hadn’t been. And it works in life as well as writing fiction.

So over the past six months (nearly a year since I’ve blogged) if I’ve tweeted, it’s either been by accident or obligatory. I’ve ignored Facebook with equal verve. I think I’ve edited 300 words. That’s it. Scrivener has been collecting dust.

On some level it’s been refreshing, a nice break. It’s also allowed me room to think and ensure my goals are aligned with my values and to shuck those things that I’d been giving a lot of time, attention, and mental anguish that were, ultimately, unimportant. I recommend a little time away from the interwebs — and other pursuits — for everyone from time to time. Maybe not six months. A couple of days or weeks would likely do.

But it wasn’t me. It wasn’t what I wanted. Then, I read this Spirit Magazine article on a flight back from Dallas. Titled, “Luck and Desire,” it is the most interesting and inspiring piece about goal-setting I’ve ever read.

So, today I officially plug myself back into writing. Today is day one of 28 straight days of blog posts. Some of this will be ugly, folks. Tomorrow you might get a post about Grape-Nuts. Regardless, let’s see if I can’t get some important behaviors to stick.

Uh … I’ve got my work cut out for me. And is it just me or is Patrick Rothfuss’ Wise Man’s Fear going to send the rest of this stack tumbling? I’m currently finishing up “Of Blood and Honey” by Stina Leicht. It’s quite good, and you can read a comprehensive review at SF Reviews.net.

My goal for this year: Just suck more!

We’ve been having a lot of discussion at the AISFP podcast about Heinlein’s rules for writing, particularly rule 3 and the merits (or lack thereof) of re-writing.

The conversation reminded me of an important consideration involving the creative process and one that even affects even those who are professionals: It’s okay to suck. And especially okay if you’re working on the first draft.

If you’re new to craft – or new to nearly anything for that matter — this fact will almost certainly be true. Case in point, I started a pretty rigorous exercise routine the beginning of the year, working out six days of the week. At first, they were awful.

Or, better put, I was awful.

But I haven’t quit, and they seem to get easier each time. (Though, I have to admit, one-arm pushups still seem out of the question.) Also, I’ve lost about 15 pounds to boot.

The moral. I keep “sucking” through my workouts … but they benefit me. Writing works much the same way. The more you do it, the better you’ll get. Now, you may never become the literary equivalent of the Jack LaLanne, but if we’re going back to Heinlein’s rules, we’re striving for making a work saleable.

Regardless, this concept of continual “suckage” applies to seasoned writers, as well. If you don’t believe me, here are two of my favorite examples:

1. Author Brandon Sanderson worked basically an open laboratory on how to write a book with his novel Warbreaker.
2. Ira Glass posted, perhaps, the quintessential treatise about suckage.

As Ira says, “It’s okay to suck. You will get better over time.” So, even the best know suckage. But here’s the difference. They commit to it and continue to work through it …

Again, my plan to work through the suck this year is simply to do more of it: More words, more rejections, I don’t care — just do more.

How do you work through the suck?

5000 books by Dec. 31

For those of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you may be wondering what’s up with my avatar. Well, here’s the scoop … For the month of November, I’ve donated my avatar to local, Kansas City-based small press Hadley Rille Books. This month, owner Eric T. Reynolds and team are celebrating their fifth birthday. Congrats, everyone!!!

Now, you can get in on the celebration, as well. Between now and Dec. 31, if you purchase a book directly from Hadley Rille, you can enter into a drawing to win a Kindle 3G (every person also gets one free registration). My borrowed avatar is a symbol of Hadley Rille’s year-end book run. Eric and his authors created a “Chase for 5000.” In short, they want to sell 5000 books by Dec. 31. To help the process along, Hadley Rille has discounted titles by as much as 25%

Over the past couple of years, Eric and I’ve become friends — he was even my roomie at World Fantasy Convention this year, so you could construe me as nothing more than a shill for his publishing company. Fine. There would be a lot worse things than trying to help out a small press, who doesn’t possess the marketing budget or cache as some of the big guys.

But it’s more than that.

During the time I’ve known Eric, I’ve also started to make friends with a lot of people in the speculative fiction writing community, either through my own writing exploits or my interviewing others for Adventures in Scifi Publishing. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who creates the sense of community that Eric does with his authors. At World Fantasy during the mass autograph session, it was a joy to watch the Hadley Rille table draw the eyes of nearly every person who walked by. How could you not, as I think they managed to squeeze 10 people behind that table.

What’s more, in an uncertain literary landscape, Hadley Rille’s — and other small press — efforts help create and further writing careers. As proof, just look at Hadley Rille’s recent and upcoming titles. Over the past year, they released nearly a dozen titles, titles that include a Hugo nominated short story from Lawrence M. Schoen and an Endeavor Award finalist from Camille Alexa.

So … here’s my post for the lil’ guy or gal. The holidays are coming up, when buy a small press book, you’re not only giving a gift to a friend or loved one, but your giving a gift to a writer and publisher, several of whom can count their sales without a calculator. And … there might be a Kindle 3G in it for you, too!

I’m nothing if consistent … consistently late … but my adventures at the 2010 World Fantasy Convention (somewhat coherent report to come on it soon) served as swift kick that this post needed to go out. For more than four years, I’ve listened to Shaun Farrell and, when she’s available to add that spice to the show, Sam Wynns.

I listened religiously, donating money from time to time (do it yourself if you listen because I’ll tell you this is a labor of love) and occasionally winning contests where I had to pick up clues from each episode. I still believe I have more free books from those than I do from my interview time, which is now five months in the making. So … as you can imagine … I considered it no less than an honor for my interview with Kij Johnson to be episode 100 and forever melded into the canon of Adventures in Scifi Publishing.

First, what a delight to talk with Kij. Second, it was a real joy to watch her advice to writers floating around the interwebs for a week or so after the interview dropped (Writing: It’s the most absorbing game there is). And then, when I got to World Fantasy, it was fun to bump into people who were fanboying or girling on Kij. “Oh, I can’t talk to her.”

With a dismissive wave I’d usher them toward her, “There’s no one nicer … go introduce yourself.” In fact, after talking with her awhile, some of the folks would come back to me and say, “I can’t believe she wrote Spar!”

You can’t buy these experience folks. They come as a privilege from a lot of hard work that Shaun and Sam put in during those early years.

So … Adventures in Scifi Publishing team 2.0 … it’s a pleasure to be among you. And, Shaun, thanks for including me in such a milestone moment for the show.

For those that are curious, both Moses Siregar III and I were working World Fantasy. I know Moses sat down with some squee-worthy names. Look for our interviews toward the end of this year, beginning of next. My own list of amazing World Fantasy Convention conversations are as follows (all amazing contributors to the genre and in the order I conducted the interviews):

Ian Tregillis (no Twitter or Facebook, which I summarily chided him for)

Blake Charlton (@blakecharlton on Twitter)

Michele Lang (@michelelang on Twitter)

Ferrett Steinmetz (@ferretthimself on Twitter)

Liza Groen Trombi (@ltrombi on Twitter)

Stina Leicht (@StinaLeicht on Twitter)

So … in the interest of full disclosure … you may be wondering who won my Clarion Write-A-Thon giveaway.

Well, it was none other than Ferrett — my VPXIII mate and a Clarion 2008 graduate. During the month of September, Ferrett submitted the largest donation to my Clarion cause. Overall, the Clarion UCSD Write-A-Thon was an overwhelming success, raising more than $12,000. A special shout out should go to Ferrett, too, because he raised nearly $1700 on his own and, if my memory serves me correctly, he’ll donate posts on his blog, Watchtower of Destruction, to charity soon.

So … what does Ferrett take home?

Not only will Ferrett receive an autographed copy of “The Windup Girl” but he’ll also take home an autographed book from every guest I interview for the podcast portion of Adventures in Scifi Publishing. Hold on, though … that’s not all … there’s more.

Finally, Ferrett will select my final World Fantasy Convention guest for Adventures in Scifi Publishing. In no small way do I hope that he’s the guest. In about 30 seconds of considering the possibility, I’ve come up with about five interview questions I’d ask.

Congrats, Ferrett. Clarion … the gift that keeps on giving!

I don’t talk about it a great deal online, but a few of you know I coach youth basketball. The kids are around my son’s age, between five and eight years old, so we focus on fundamentals. One of the hardest things for kids to learn are some defensive concepts, such as protecting the space between the person they’re guarding and the goal. It requires abstraction, whereas most children are better at focusing on a singular item, namely the ball. Coach, all I want is the ball. All I want is the ball.

You wouldn’t believe the number of games I’ve seen where the offensive player will pivot and the defender will continue along with the ball, in essence freeing up the offensive player for a shot. Or, at this age, they can’t steal when another player is dribbling. Invariably, we have children — children that have played for two years mind you — that still take swipes at the ball. All I want is the ball.

Creative pursuits are a lot like this. Many of us are excellent at focusing on what we want, without properly thinking about how – or, more importantly doing what – we need to get there.

It’s even worse now than when I started really focusing on my writing five years ago. Especially now with social media. Not as if we didn’t have enough distractions before, but now we can watch and envy others’ successes and lament our own failures second-by-second in 140 characters. And, by the way, I help my company with social media for a living, and enjoy connecting. So, there’s a rub unto itself. Personally, I find it very difficult to disconnect.

But I must. My advice: Don’t chase the darn ball. Focus on the space between you and the goal. DO!

This is important because while the outcomes of the game may be similar or the same, the makeup of the game is different for each of us. Not all of us will have the same path toward our goal.

So, stop watching Twitter and reading about how everyone sold his or her first book. Instead, start taking that time and writing yours. And, if you must scour the interwebs for “how-tos”, limit it to a few posts a week and only to those that will help you further your work, i.e. those that are genuine, personal advice for writers.

Case in point, I’ve read some great blog posts or heard podcasts the last few days from folks I consider writing mentors and instructors. To start, John Scalzi offers a couple of on-point messages about writing. His first, was simply titled, “Writing: Find time or don’t” , while the second at the SFWA website is about being a writer and a parent, giving tips on how to find balance. I remember when I was at Viable Paradise last year, my roommate commented on how effective I was using 15 minutes. I laughed, “the byproduct of parenthood, man.”

The second item that really struck me was one of Mur Lafferty’s more recent “I Should Be Writing” episodes where she talks about confidence. You could tell in her voice that, despite the fact she’s had success in the past, the path has been difficult of late. And you could tell she expected the path to continue to be hard. For a moment, she even admits to eyeing the ball, some new Syfy (did I just type that … blah!) show that had gotten her riled up. But true to Mur form, she quickly moved past that, and does what Mur does best — She does.

There, my three posts for the week. Now, Brent, note to self … Don’t chase.

Don’t know how I managed it, but I’m rollin’ first in The Dead Horse Society’s reading 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, at The Writers Place (I say that because I’ll then be the first to have a care-free glass of wine). If you live in Kansas City and don’t already have plans, come check out 10 amazing storytellers. Well, really nine, as I’ll only give myself a passing grade. Fortunately, my grade may improve because I won’t be singing disco, as I did last year.

My bit this time will be more straightforward. I’ll be reading Genizah, the first chapter from my novel “Strange Sobriquet” (which, by the way, I hate the novel’s title, so feel free to send me better ideas). This is the story that got me back into writing. I’ve revised it time and again before setting it aside to pursue other tales, but recently picked it back up to see whether it’s trunk material or a worthy pursuit. The reading may serve as an interesting experiment in my decision there.

Regardless, the whole evening will be fun. And I’ll post the audio of my performance sometime next week. Heck, if I get the consent of my mates, I may just post the whole performance.

Turn out the lights, the party’s …

Not so fast. What a bunch of tripe. In my last post, I offered an amazing autographed copy of  “The Windup Girl” to anyone who could find it in their hearts to donate to my Clarion cause. Several did … BEFORE I offered up the book (If you’re one of those who did, THANK YOU!). But, I don’t think anybody contributed after, so that is why I haven’t made an announcement about who will receive the book.

Now, sometimes, records can get held up, unaccounted for, etc. And, I’m very much to blame because I didn’t push the deal, nearly sitting out the entire month of August with an upper respiratory infection. So, If you contributed to my Clarion cause post the Aug. 4 date, let me know, and I’ll confirm with the Clarion folks. Then, the book will be yours.

But, if no one can claim it, here’s what I’m going to do. The official Clarion write-a-thon party is over, but true to my style — as I seem to have my own timetable for things — I’m going to continue collecting donations through the month of September (There donation system is still open.). And, better yet, I’m going to sweeten the pot.

Not only will the person who contributes the largest donation in my name receive “The Windup Girl” — provided it is indeed not spoken for — but that person will also receive an autographed book from every author I interview at World Fantasy. And … that’s not all … I’ll also leave one of my Adventure in Scifi Publishing World Fantasy interview slots open for the winning person to select my final guest.

Now, I can’t guarantee that the author/agent/editor will meet with me. Weird things happen. In fact, just this last week, I lost an interview I was geeked about because the author had to cancel his trip entirely. BUT … I will give it my best effort to arrange the interview in the winner’s name. Worse comes to worst, I’ll score an extra autographed book for the winning contributor.

So, what do you say? I know you have a little coin in that purse.