Category: Personal

2015: A Year in Review

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Engagement RingSince re-launching this website way back in January, I have written forty-seven blog posts (including this one). That’s way more than I’ve written, across the three separate blogs I used to run, in the last few years combined.

Also this year, I’ve written just over ninety thousand words of fan fiction, and a totally unknown amount of other words in poetry, and novels, short stories etc (the fanfic word count is a lot easier to keep track of).

With regards reading, my final stats for the year sit at a total of forty-six books read off a forty-book target.

In the month of December, I listened to one audiobook (You’re Never Weird on the Internet… Almost, by Felicia Day), read two novel-length fanfics, finished a third, finished The Horologicon, and read Where She Went cover to cover.

In 2015, I re-released Wake as a second edition, released Four Season Summer and Season’s End in a combined paperback edition, had a book launch for that paperback, received awards for my fan fiction, entered writing competitions, re-launched my YouTube channel, took part in April’s CampNaNoWriMo, July’s Camp NaNo, and the official National Novel Writing month in November.

Meanwhile, in my personal life, I took a few more trips to England, met the love of my life, and got engaged. All that considered, I think it’s been a pretty great year. Roll on 2016!

Writing is a Real Job!

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Writing is a real job and, more specifically, it’s my full time job. Yes, full time! I may well be preaching (/ranting) to the converted here, but I need to get this off my chest.

For some, writing is a hobby. They don’t put all their time into it, and they don’t get money back out of it. But, for others, it can be and often is a legitimate job.

I am sick of people talking about my career in terms of ‘that thing you do until you grow up and choose a proper profession.’ These comments are often meant well, but that only makes them more infuriating. People are worried that I’m wasting my time, or fearful about my financial stability. Which is nice, in a way, but also rather patronizing.

I am an adult, and whether I have money to pay my bills is – shockingly – none of my friend or family’s business. The older I get, the more I realize that there is no such thing as a “safe” career path. No job is completely secure.

Sure, some are more secure than others, but if there’s going to be risk no matter what, why not aim for what you really want?

This may come across as bitter, but that’s not how I mean it. I’m simply frustrated by the attitude that my life has to fit a very narrow specification in order to constitute being acceptable.

No, I don’t work nine-to-five, Monday to Friday; and yes, I do mostly work from my bedroom, but I put in a hell of a lot of effort, and I’m not being particularly risky or ridiculous in doing so, I’m bravely living the dream.

This has been a public service announcement. Thank you and goodnight.

Positivity, Possibilities, and Pushing Myself

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Following up on my last blog post, I can now tell you that not only will my work be in the exhibition, starting Thursday, but I’ve been asked to read at the event, too. And, if that’s not enough, I’ve also been told there’ll be a photo-op with the Mayor. Exciting times!

This has really come out of knowing the organizers. In previous years I considered entering a poem but, in the end, I shied away. This year, however, I was greatly encouraged, and it’s made all the difference.

On that note: I went to the local poetry recital I blogged about, as planned, and I’ve decided to enter the FSNI competition after all.

My partner has been telling me I need to push myself/self promote more, and I have to admit that I think he’s right. Even if I don’t come anywhere near winning either of the competitions, I’m already glad I entered. Even if my artwork doesn’t sell, I’ll have still made it, and I’ll be able to keep it and show people.

This week, and going forward, I’m feeling positive. If there’s something I want to do, I’m going to go for it. Who knows where it will lead me?

Fan Fiction Milestones

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

On this day two years ago – July 28th, 2013 – I wrote and posted my first ever piece of fan fiction. Since then, fanfic has become a big part of my life, both as a writer and as a reader. It’s my release for when my novel isn’t going the way I want, or when life isn’t going the way I want, and I find it generally good writing practice as well. So, I thought I’d share some statistics in celebration of the anniversary. Fanfic Award Plaque

Basic Stats:

  • Over 5,000 Profile Views | Fanfiction.net
  • Received over 1,300 Reviews
  • 77 Followers | Fanfiction.net
  • On the Favorite Author List of 60 Members | Fanfiction.net
  • On the Favorite Author List of 43 Members | Elysian Fields
  • My Most Popular Story – ‘After the End’ – has over 80,000 Views

I have written:

  • Over 200,000 words of Fanfiction for Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series.
  • Over 3,000 words of Fanfic for other fandoms (Harry Potter, Crow, Serenity, Ten Things I Hate About You, and Once Upon a Time).
  • Over 500 Reviews, Totaling over 21,000 words | Elysian Fields
  • Over 100 Reviews | Fanfiction.net
  • 6 Challenges | Elysian Fields

Continue reading →

Life as a Full-Time Writer

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

I thought some people might be interested to hear about what a full-time writer/author does all day, so I thought I’d share a little insight into my work.

It must be pointed out, however, that the following just applies to me, and that other writers can and will have different schedules. What I love about writing is the flexibility it has, and I’m really interested to find out about what other authors get up to (if you are an author and you’re reading this, please leave a comment to compare and contrast your experience).

But enough pre-amble, here are the basics: I work full time (which is to say, a minimum of thirty hours a week), I work from home (translation: my bed), and I write in a number of areas (fiction, non-fiction, fan fiction, poetry, etc.) and my daily tasks often don’t involve writing at all.

That last point might surprise you the most but, you see, I am currently my own agent, editor, publisher, and social media manager and this leads me to doing a range of tasks that a lot of other writers will never think about let alone encounter.

In this past month I have… Continue reading →

Paper / Notes to Self

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

One of my life goals is to have fewer little pieces of paper surrounding me, each containing reminders of tasks undone. A clear ‘to do’ list is the surest sign of freedom, I’m sure. But right now, what I want to pin on my notice board of stuff, is a humble note to self:

You don’t have to do everything at once

Indeed, you don’t have to do everything

Life does not require you to be ready

 

 

The Internet Gets Weird

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

I guess it’s not really news that the Internet is a strange place but, for me, it got a little bit more weird than usual, recently. As self obsessed as it may potentially sound, I have a Google Alert set up for my name, meaning that I get an email pretty much anytime someone mentions me on the Internet. Personally I find it quite helpful, and I would recommend it to anyone trying to build an online platform, especially as it’s free, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. Today I wanted to document a strange thing that happened, which my Google Alert (fittingly) alerted me to: someone’s set up a complicated kind of scam linked to an illegal version of one of my books!

I don’t know the ins and outs of how it works but, basically, there’s a website out there in which Fake Person A asks where they can get a free electronic version of a specific book by me, and Fake Person B replies with a very dodgy link to what I believe to be a virus. Not only a virus, but one you have to pay to download. And not only a single payment, but a set of monthly payments that seems difficult to unsubscribe from once set up.

How do I know these people are fake? Well, this is the weird part – every time you load the page it tells you it’s on a different website, the people’s names have changed, the linked profiles don’t exist, and the messages are written ever so slightly differently. I can’t imagine what kind of coding goes into something like that but, actually, I’m a little impressed.*

Anyway, I guess the moral to the story is to keep an eye on what people are doing, and don’t try to download any illegal books.

The stupidity of the thing is that subscription to the “free” download site would cost more than the official eBook version anyway. *shakes head and sighs deeply* Stay safe online kids!

 

*If you’re wondering, Google really frowns on such things, and I’m confident they’ll block the link soon.

 

The Addiction of Instant Affirmation

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

I would rather write one-hundred thousand words of fan fiction than ten-thousand words of “original” fiction. Is it because I have fewer ideas for original stories? Is it because I prefer the writing process with fan fiction, or that writing fan fiction is in someway easier? Nope, nope, and not at all. The key is motivation – let me explain:

Ten-thousand words of a novel is ten-thousand words of a novel. It’s not a complete novel. Unfinished as it is, no one wants to read it*. And, generally speaking, you shouldn’t want to show it to people before it’s ready anyway. Posting it online severely lowers your chance of getting it accepted by a traditional publishing house. While giving friends and family a sneak peak can be a blessing or a curse, and there’s no way to tell until it’s too late.

So, basically, you’re left with ten-thousand words to worry over. Is it good enough? Will people like it? Even if you’re certain you’re penning a best seller (which you absolutely can not be sure of) you have to slog on and go through the long process to publication. It can take years, and it can be demoralizing.

Fan fiction, on the other hand? Because it’s not for profit you can share it online to your hearts content and, when you do, your heart is indeed content. You get reviews, and compliments, and people boast about you on Tumblr**. To me that kind of affirmation is like a drug***, and that’s why I do it. The fans. The community. People placing value on my work.

 

…I would rather write one-hundred thousand words of fan fiction than ten-thousand words of “original” fiction. This is a problem, because I have a novel to write. Can someone start paying me for Spike and Buffy stories?

Recommended Video: A TED Talk on Self Control (It’s vaguely related, and very interesting.)

*I’m throwing generalizations around, here.

**Okay, so you’re not guaranteed to get showered in praise but I’ve found that – excluding a few haters here and there – fan fiction readers are lovely, and if you come up with anything half decent you will no doubt get fans/followers.

***Disclaimer: drugs are bad. The high doesn’t last forever, and the following slump can be crippling. Same goes for writer’s block, though obviously to a lesser degree. Haters do hate, and they will kill you slowly if you let them.

Priorities

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Recently I read ‘Finish Your Damn Book’ and ‘Are You Finished Yet?’ – both great blog posts which I really recommend everyone else check out. Even for those who haven’t clicked the links, it should be pretty obvious from the titles what they’re about, namely: actually achieving your big goals instead of just thinking about it.

Trying to do everything and failing to get anything done is a pretty big hole to fall into. So, I’m aware it’s February and no longer New Year, but my writing goals for twenty fifteen are these:

  1. Toss out the tiny ideas that don’t matter, and clear the recesses of my mind of projects that are lurking back there that I know are nothing more than a fanciful waste of time.
  2. Actually sit down and force myself to finish the big projects.

Sounds simple, right? Well, simplicity is what I’m aiming for. We’ll see how it goes.

Eight Year Blogging Anniversary

Posted on by Ellie Rose McKee

Photo of Birthday Cake
Photo by Aih

I first joined Blogger because the Internet used to be new and exciting. It can still be exciting, no doubt, but it’s grown up a bit, as have I. Back when I was in high school I joined every social media website I heard about, with the aim of having multiple profiles all over the web and being, therefore, cool.

I didn’t succeed in being cool. The only thing I actually achieved was having multiple profiles all over the place with childish usernames, awful grammar, and personal information that was best left unpublished. Oh, the follies of youth!

I’ve since spent many hours trying to access old email accounts in an effort to get these profiles taken down and, in many cases I’ve been successful, but not in all.

Anyway, back to blogging. When I first joined Blogger I didn’t know what a blog was, and I didn’t care. I just wanted a profile. So I made one, and then swiftly moved on.

Time passed and Facebook was born. I went to University and started writing Facebook “notes” to kind of document the experience. That was 2008, and in 2009 I rediscovered my actual blog, and started cross posting. I got feedback, telling me what I wrote was interesting (though, looking back, I quite disagree), and so I blogged more. I spent more time writing blog posts than actual university work and then, at the start of 2010, when I’d decided to drop out of university I had even more time to write. I went from one blog to three, separating out the mish-mash of everything that had been my main blog (aptly titled This and That) to a Creative Writing Blog (Writing Through the Night), and a place for posts about Christianity (what came to be known as my “God Blog”).  Continue reading →