The Backwoods Bard - Latest Comments

Re: You’ll Get There

Deb E — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 21:45:23 -0000

Yep. I have to remind myself daily, too!

Re: Recharging Your Writer Battery

Rose Gonsoulin — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 16:04:01 -0000

Great commentary on the non-financial rewards of getting a good read out there. I especially liked how you connected the dots from marketing to a mass audience to finding the reader who loves your work.

Re: Recharging Your Writer Battery

Eric Bahle — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:30:23 -0000

Thanks, Deb! A lot of writers in the past were famously anti-social or outright hermits. I suppose there's a certain romance to that, but I'm more in the just-folks school of thought. You're folks, I'm folks, we're all folks and folks is folks. And if folks are nice enough to read your story and say something nice, you can sure be nice enough to say thanks.

Re: Recharging Your Writer Battery

Deb E — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 19:04:54 -0000

Excellent work! I love (positive) feedback, too. There's nothing better than finding out that those characters I so lovingly crafted are loved by others. That's the best compliment ever! Enjoy the buzz and make the most of it! You don't want to let your fans down now, do you? (o: You have fans!

Re: How Fighting Prepared Me for Writing

Eric Bahle — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:55:52 -0000

Weird West is basically Wild West + Something Weird so you get to play with the tropes which is part of the fun. You can run the gamut from plugging your weirdness into a "straight" Western a la Billy the Kid meets Dracula, all the way to a fully mythologized world like Stephen King's Gunslinger. Mike Resnick has some that lean more Steampunk, complete with clockwork "soiled doves". Sounds like Wild West with magic definitely qualifies!

Re: How Fighting Prepared Me for Writing

Deb E — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 21:30:18 -0000

Well, I call mine "Fantasy with a taste of Steampunk", but I like the Wild West more than Victorian England, so mine is set in a world more like that (and late 1800s New Zealand... but well, that makes sense for a Kiwi writer to do...). I haven't read anything in Weird West, yet (but I will be reading yours!), so I don't know what "tropes" are standard, but basically mine is Wild West with magic... so I guess it's a little weird.

Basically, I'm really glad the world of publishing is expanding, because I'd hate to try to peddle mine to a standard publisher - I'd lose just on trying to categorise it. I've been lucky enough to find a small imprint willing to give it a go...

My first book doesn't delve too far into the weird, but I'm getting there with the second!

I really do appreciate your posts about your experiences. I'll know who to come to for military-related writing questions (o: Much more useful than my biology background...

Re: How Fighting Prepared Me for Writing

Eric Bahle — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:58:33 -0000

Thanks for the kind words, Deb. I appreciate it. How does your own work creep into Weird Western territory? I'm always curious what others are working on.

Re: How Fighting Prepared Me for Writing

Deb E — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 16:11:57 -0000

Awesome post. Thank you. As a fellow writer with no fighting experience, I really appreciate you sharing those experiences--immediately I can see how they might apply to some of my characters.
But, beyond that, we all need to be reminded how to handle those knocks, and every new perspective adds something to the discussion, particularly in the different experiences they bring to the table.
Oooh.. you write Weird Westerns, too (probably more so than my own work, mine's still evolving in that direction)... added to my GR to-read list. I have a couple of other books to get through but look forward to giving these a go!

Re: What Do You Do With A Broken Story?

Eric Bahle — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:36:53 -0000

True enough, but I'm afraid I don't have the Professor's patience.

Re: What Do You Do With A Broken Story?

Scott — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 11:03:10 -0000

Insightful post, Eric. Of course, there's also J.R.R. Tolkien's approach: If a story is not working, just keep starting over again until it's right.

Re: About Me

Eric Bahle — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:05:02 -0000

There will be more stories now and again, but it might be awhile. Fun as they were they put me behind a bit on the next Caine novel.

Re: About Me

Rachael — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 09:33:19 -0000

Keep the stories coming... and don't stop living the dream!

Re: The Horror in the Hills

Eric Bahle — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:19:43 -0000

Thanks, Scott!

Re: The Horror in the Hills

Scott Shields — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:02:39 -0000

Good tale, Eric!

Re: No Man’s Land

Eric Bahle — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 10:42:07 -0000

Good! That's what I was going for.

Re: The Price

Tim Giron — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:09:11 -0000

Nice take on a modern fairy tale.

Re: No Man’s Land

Tim Giron — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:01:19 -0000

Had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Re: The Horror in the Hills

Eric Bahle — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:31:15 -0000

Thanks, Tim!

Re: The Horror in the Hills

Tim Giron — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:57:27 -0000

Well done, sir!

Re: Writing Tips for the Rookie (From a Fellow Rookie)

Eric Bahle — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 10:16:41 -0000

Everybody is scared of those high numbers. Who wouldn't be? But being scared of them doesn't make 'em go away. I just pretend I'm not scared. Sort of a fake-it- til-you make it attitude. Thanks for reading.

Re: Writing Tips for the Rookie (From a Fellow Rookie)

Klaudia — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:30:50 -0000

"Turn Word Count Into Your Friend" - love this advice. I m scared of that high number but if I set smaller goals, then it doesn't look so bad anymore.
Thank you Eric for reminding the Pomodoro technique, I tried that long time ago and I believe it's very useful.

Re: Don’t Think I Won’t Cut You

Deb E — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:14:16 -0000

Absolutely agree. That rush you get when you cut a chunk out and just KNOW your story is better for it - so worth it!

Re: Do Not Disturb The Writer (He’s Disturbed Enough As It Is)

Eric Bahle — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:29:29 -0000

Distractionator...I love it! I wish I could say I've conquered my own Distractionator. I keep him pretty much in check with the pomodoro technique but I'll still find myself wandering sometimes.

Re: Do Not Disturb The Writer (He’s Disturbed Enough As It Is)

Rose Gonsoulin — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:32:04 -0000

Distractions are bothersome, but I have learned that I am my own biggest Distractionator. There are times when you want to write, but the evil twin inside wants to goof off. If I only had to deal with legitamite 3rd party distractions, I would have already written a gazillion novels, essays, short stories, poems.

Re: Friday the 13Th Book Launch for Grinder’s Keeper (plus free download)

Eric Bahle — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:08:32 -0000

Cool! Thank you!