One of my friends recently asked, “Who do you write for?” It was a simple enough question for me to answer and, without any hesitation, I responded, “I write for myself.” The next logical question was, “But, what about the readers and what they might want?” Ah, that…I had to think harder about that question, particularly since it exposed an issue that came up while editing Duality. It was an internalized battle, but a battle…
Always Ametra
If your dreams don’t come true the way you hope, should they be abandoned? One of my coworkers stopped me while passing in the break room last week. She asked how things are going with the novel. Another coworker was present, and his ears perked up at the announcement that the book is now finished and in the hands of the beta readers. She congratulated me, asked that I keep her posted, and we all…
I realize that there has been radio silence here at Always Ametra as of late. But, for good reason! For the last three weeks, I have spent roughly 18 hours out of every weekend doing nothing but writing. Yes, I continued to write every evening during the week after work, but it became the norm to get in on Friday before 5 pm and spend the next eight hours at my desk writing and editing…
Last night, I finished reading a novel that I started sometime last August or September. It isn’t because I’m slow at reading by any means. I can usually, when Life allows, plow through the average novel in a day or so. The reason this particular novel took so long to complete is because I couldn’t find a redeemable character anywhere in it. The novel, based upon historical accounts of actual events, was well put together.…
Had anyone told me that editing a novel might take as long as it did to actually write the novel, I’d have thought them insane. I will admit to being very naive as to what the editing process would entail. After all, I’ve been writing for years, but this is my first official foray into becoming a published author. Editing a novel is also not at all like the research papers we had to write in…
I’ve decided to post another installment of Taste This! so that I can share one of my favorite recipes with you. This one, just like the last installment, is a dessert recipe – one of my favorite to make. It’s quick, easy, and delicious. Mind you, I won’t always post desserts. There will definitely be some savory dishes showcased. Admittedly, though, I do have a rather active sweet tooth. Bread pudding is a dessert typically made…
As my weekend draws to a close, I realize that I’ve made an error. I was able to finish most of the tasks that I started, only I went through them in reverse order. Saturday was beautiful: Slightly-overcast skies, cool temperatures, gusts of wind and the occasional threat of showers. I love that kind of weather, and I spent much of the day here at my desk in my little workspace as I plowed through…
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been encouraged by my friends to share the occasional recipe here on the blog. Some of these will be original concoctions of my own and others will be based on a recipe I discovered elsewhere and needed to try and then share. This will be a biweekly feature to start, and I may change the frequency depending on little things like popularity and demand. But, I cook at home often…
It’s been roughly ten months since I started writing Duality. There wasn’t much about the day itself that stands out for me now, except the feeling I had that things were going pretty well overall. I was at work removing things one at a time from my task list when a call came in. I’ve mentioned that call here before: an irate woman by the name of Marjorie decided that it was her job to tell me…
Have you ever experienced the dizzying feeling of finding cash in your pockets as you rifle through them before doing laundry? It’s a, “Eureka!” moment, and you get the rush of warm and fuzzies because it’s such a pleasant surprise. That is how I felt earlier this week when I realized that I have roughly half a dozen clips recorded to my phone that I’d somehow forgotten about. We’ve already gone over how, when inspiration…