US vs UK Spelling

\ 4 Comments \ by

I remember the first time I realized the UK spelling of the word “centre”.

“That has to be a mistake,” I said to my classmate. After all, no self-respecting word would ever allow itself to be spelt like that.

The UK spelling for other words like favour, rumour, and harbour I could understand, but centre … Continue Reading →

Posted in: Writing

Using Profanity in Writing

\ 4 Comments \ by
“#*&@!”

It finally happened, that point in every writer’s life when they must pause and decide if profanity should appear in their writing.

Profanity, swear words, curse words, words with meanings that change depending on the context, used in anger or ecstasy or just plain rudeness. Words a little stronger than bitch or ass, although depending on your opinion they might fall under the category.

Originally I had decided not to, as books I enjoy like Warhammer and the Hobbit don’t, and I was aiming for something similar. But then one of my characters experienced a situation where it just felt natural to say it. According to my editor Jesse, I need to make clear that the novel writes like this from the start so my audience would be aware.

It makes sense. Awesome novels like Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy, and George Martin’s now infamous Song of Ice and Fire series […]

Posted in: Writing

Getting Back a Routine During the Pandemic

\ 1 Comment \ by
Image courtesy of blackzheep at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It’s been a rough couple months. When the virus finally arrived in my country Trinidad and Tobago in March, just like the rest of the world, our government responded by shutting everything down and closing the borders.

This really broke my routine, and a routine is what keeps me working, doing all the projects and hobbies while drudging through the sludge of life.

So an average weekday usually involves an early morning commute to the office. A good breakfast came before work started. There’d be some gym/endurance training somewhere in there, and writing would be around 5-7pm before heading back home. If I’m lucky, some writing could even get done after 11pm when my son’s asleep (hopefully). The following day everything repeats. Friday evenings might see a visit to the local watering hole to decompress, and weekends involve some manner of chore/physical labour. Then we […]

Posted in: Writing