I might just be George Lucas’ newest fan
I’m halfway through George Lucas: A Life, and I have to say, for a thic’ book, it has held my attention. In part because it doesn’t go on tangents, and in part because I see a lot of me in George. Case in point: He never grew up wanting to be a filmmaker. (I never […]
Allow me to reintroduce myself
Yesterday, I decided to give my About the Author page a little refresher. A winter clean, if you will. There was nothing inherently wrong with its predecessor, but it wasn’t clear what my mission was, which — admittedly — had only become crystallised in the past couple of months. That mission? To bring more […]
A public announcement
I’ve been putting off writing this email for close to a couple of weeks now, but like circling vultures squawking overhead, the realities of my plight are clear. In case you’re wondering, no, I am not culling yet another day of these emails. Nor am I hinting at any wholesale changes. Rather, I have […]
10 of my wildest ‘what-ifs’
Yesterday, I shared the two words that have shaped much of the world we live in. At least from the human perspective. For those who didn’t get a chance to read it, the two words were: WHAT IF After sending out that email, I figured it would be fun to let some of […]
The two words that gave birth to D.J.J. Watson
One of the biggest downfalls of being a fiction author — especially one who spins fantasy tales — is without a doubt having an overactive imagination. It has no boundaries. Nor does it care about finding you at convenient times. That said, one thing they almost all share in common is that they start with […]
Ghost or cat?
Yesterday morning, en route back to the bedroom, I glanced into one of the spare rooms where Oreo (my sister’s cat we’re tasked to keep alive for the next week) sleeps. That was when I was struck by an unsettling sight… The drawers built into the bed frame were wide open on both sides. […]
Why I didn’t run any Black Friday deals
Unless you live off-grid and don’t access the internet at all — in which case, how the hell did you stumble into this lowly dwelling of ours? — you’ll know we’ve just passed one of the biggest promotional periods of the year. And you would have noticed your Overlord & Saviour didn’t run any special […]
Instant regret
Lady Laura, the kids, and I are cat-sitting for my sister while she’s away on vaykay in Mauritius for 10 nights. (Not jealous at all.) As part of this arrangement, we’re staying at her house as she lives quite a distance from us. Okay, I’m lying — we didn’t fancy the idea of cat fur […]
13 hard truths I’ve learned in this business
Nobody cares about that sentence you’ve tweaked 100 times. Just write the damn thing and move on. Never pander to trolls or harsh critics. You will never win them over, and it gives your true fans the ick. No two books are the same. This isn’t a business we can systematise, so be okay with […]
The pain of buying new stuff
Black Friday is firmly upon us, and I’ve already been suckered into the commercial fanfare. I’ve bought more supplements than I ever need… A two-metre camera stand I have no immediate plans of using… Books I probably won’t read for the best part of a year… And now a brand-spanking new MacBook after my eldest […]
This will ruffle some feathers
Just when I thought I’d seen every imaginable concoction of fantasy, it seems a new one has cropped up. And honestly, this one made me wince a little. For all I know, many of you might very much like this new subgenre, and to you fine folks, I say eat your heart out. But something […]
He just didn’t like big books
Like a lot of millennials, my first encounter with a fantasy book came through the Harry Potter series. When it came to reading time, everyone whipped out a copy of The Goblet of Fire — including yours untruly — or risk being cast out to the shadowlands of social exclusion. So for 30 minutes, I’d […]
I’m shutting this whole thing down
Not too long ago, I did something I thought I’d never do when I first opened the Legion's squeaky gates: Taking Sundays off. It went against everything I set out to do. My goal was to indoctrinate… to drown out the other (boring) newsletters that were bloating your inbox… and to have more […]
How to un-Gollum yourself
Let’s play a game. Metaphorically speaking, what else could be described in the following dialogue by Bilbo (who is talking to Gandalf about the One Ring in The Fellowship of the Ring): “…I have felt it was like an eye. . .I am always. . .wondering if it is safe, and pulling it out to […]
It was never meant to be
I swear, you cannot make this up. So yesterday, I sent an email about how, on Monday, Lady Laura and I planned to take Master Liam and Master Nathan to the local farm. Then tragedy struck: Within 1 mile of arriving at the place, we learned that it was closed on Mondays. Whilst rallying to […]
I think Laura is psychic
Yesterday, something rare happened. Blue skies and a dazzling sun greeted the UK, which naturally got me restless. Instead of pounding the keyboard and glancing out of my office window, wondering what could have been… I had an idea. One that Lady Laura and I had been sitting on since an anti-climactic visit […]
The music I listen to while writing
A question I see crop up in writing circles often is: “Do you listen to music while writing?” Whenever I’m bored enough to participate and say yes, the follow-up question usually asks what music “exactly” I listen to, which is almost always determined by the vibe of the piece or scene I’m writing. […]
Why I buy paperbacks I’ll never read
I listen to a lot of my fiction and nonfiction via audiobook these days. Between playing dad to a teething toddler and a newborn… being the most charming man Lady Laura could ever ask for… AND the leader of not just the Legion, but a starving corner of the fantasy market that wants fast-paced epics […]
Can someone tell this man’s van to die?
A couple of weeks ago, Lady Laura and I were walking back from the shop when we heard this obnoxious screeching. Imagine a train braking at a station, now multiply it by 10… It was that bad. Anyway, it got louder and louder to the point I didn’t know whether a bomb had […]
The funniest ad I’ve created
The awesome thing about running a one-man band is you get to do what the hell you want. No boss. No marketing exec you need to serenade. Just you, your imagination, and your skills. Of course, this can be a double-edged sword. In incompetent hands, it can heap all kinds of misery on your business. […]