Haters Gonna Hate

Doubters.

Don't you love 'em?

I've had my fair share of them. I still get them from time to time. Right from when I was in school, I had people telling me my dreams were worthless. Heck, I had people tell me I was worthless. And those words are soul destroying. They tear your very person apart and leave seeds of doubt and pain in your very being.

Words have power. Immense power. It's why they're written down by people, by the religious and non-religious alike. And I think people forget this. They forget that their words have the power to build someone up or completely and utterly destroy their world.

It's taken me a long time to see past the doubters. It's taken me a long time to give them the finger and say "Fuck 'em" and live my life how I want to live. It's my decision to follow my dreams not theirs. It's my choice in what I want to create in this world.

And it's your choise to. Seriously, I know it hurts. I know you can see their words are ingrained on your eyes and in your mind. They'll stay there forever. Some of the words of the people who have put me down remain with me to this day. But now I see them as encouragement to keep going, rather than to give up and fade away.

You're not worthless. You are someone. You're here for a reason, even if you don't discover that reason until you're 80. Heck, you may never discover that reason until you're on your death bed and a thought comes to mind. You have a reason for living. Put your hand on your chest. Feel your heart beating. THAT'S your reason for living. Live your life however the heck you want to live it. You want to be a musician, a writer, a nurse, a doctor, a train driver, whatever? Go and do it! Never give up on that dream! And never, ever let anyone else talk you in to giving up.

A couple of days ago I was having one of my "I'm hopeless. Everything I do is crap" days. Oddly, at the same time, I came across the following set of gifs (if anyone knows the video it's from, send me the link and I'll edit this part out). Now I'm passing them on to you. You can do whatever you want to take. Some may say it takes talent. But if you've got the determination, you can go far.

Writer Scheduling

Veetu Industries used Grammarly to grammar check this post. Because time is money and, rather than worrying about the little things, you could be building the world of tomorrow, today.

Writer scheduling is a lot like staff scheduling except there are more voices shouting for your attention. And those voices are normally the muses in your head, all of them wanting to play at the same time.

Keeping track of those voices and ideas can be a pain. Especially when you're working on a major piece only to find yourself interrupted by a new and amazing idea which demands your attention RIGHT THIS INSTANT. I'm known for flicking between two, three, or even more projects at any one time. Which is why, when a person asks me another book of the Veetu Industries series is coming out, I tend to reply with a shrug.

“When they're willing to play ball,” I reply.

Until then, it's business as usual and my butterfly mind wanders off to whatever is looking pretty and shiny today.

There are two ways I keep track of all the various ideas. One is the usual pile of notebooks. Normally they're divided into two with one idea running front to back and the other running back to front. Crammed into the front of these notebooks are various pieces of paper and sticky notes, all with little snippets of stories written on them.

On the wall of my office is a board known as RAECON (which takes its name from America's Terminal Radar Approach Control, also known as TRACON. Do you see what I did there? Thank you! I'm here all week!). This board lists the current projects I'm working on and the “holding pattern” that they're in. The pattern changes week by week, day by day, depending on what I'm working on. Something which has my attention this week may drop to the bottom of the list the next while a project I haven't worked on for six months may suddenly shoot to the top and find itself on “final approach”. Yet the next day, that project may drop one or two spaces while another takes over. Two days later a new project may insert itself in to the flight path. I'm a fairly visual person and, as an aviation geek it's a great and easy way for me to keep track of everything.

An early version of RAECON

Do you have a way of keeping track of them all? Notebooks, divided folders, or even an app on a computer or phone?

~~~

Talking about writing and all that jazz, Torquere Press have picked up two more of my books! One is the 3^rd in the Veetu Industries series (“The Eve of War”) while the other is something completely different and isn't, shock horror, Steampunk! “A Second Past Midnight” takes a look at the world following an electromagnetic pulse and the affects it's had on otherwise normal people. Really can't wait to show them both to you all!

Grumpy Rae

I suppose I'd better explain myself, hadn't I? Just in case anyone's a little bit worried.

If you're a follower on either Facebook or Twitter, you may occasionally see references to Grumpy Rae. And I know it's worried a few people.

Grumpy Rae is a joke which started a few months ago during an email exchange with a friend and kind of stuck. Okay, she really stuck! Grumpy Rae is the one who brings all the pain and angst to the stories I work on. She's actually a lot of fun to be around, throwing in curveballs like sudden deaths, stress, and various other (mostly unexpected) plot twists. For those who've asked, Grumpy Rae isn't depressed, nor sad. She's just slightly sadistic. And likes to take her inspiration from Grumpy Cat (obviously!).

Grumpy Rae in action!

I tend to talk about my mood swings fairly frequently (oh, the joys of Bipolar!). I'm not ashamed of who I am, nor of what goes on inside my head. If I can help one other person get through something they're going through, then that's great! The email's always open, as are the Facebook and Twitter accounts. If anyone ever wants to talk, drop me a line. You'll never get judged around here (not even by Grumpy Rae).

Grumpy Rae/Happy Rae are extensions of me, of the fun I get to have, and part of my self-deprecating sense of humour. I prefer making fun of myself rather than laughing at the expense of others. And I know she makes a few people giggle so I'll keep up posting as Grumpy Rae. Heck, she might even make it on here! For me, Grumpy Rae is one of the muses. Like I said, she's fun. Try engaging her in conversation one day. Just don't expect a happy response!

Happy Rae

 Right, it's getting late here so I suppose I'd better get to bed. Grumpy Rae needs a lot of beauty sleep.