Blogging from the Home Office
It’s very nice to have a room of one’s own, even if that room is really just 185 square feet serving as bedroom, office, and kitchen all at once. I’m not sure how productive I’ve been, but I feel productive because I’m sitting down at the computer at least once an hour to type, revise, or research something. In between I’m reading (but sparingly–I don’t meet the residency requirement for a library card and I don’t have much cash for buying...
Read MoreWisCon 37–A Partial Review
I was certain I wouldn’t make it to WisCon this year, coming as it did right before my moving trip to Washington, D.C. But with some last-minute crunch and a willingness to run around disoriented (I’ve learned these will get you far in life, or at least lead me very far afield), I made it for at least the weekend and Friday evening. Friday:After hurriedly packing for DC, I stuffed my backpack with my immediate needs for one weekend and set out to brave the Memorial Day weekend...
Read MoreIndieGoGo Campaign for Self-Publishing a Book on Publishing
Long story short, I’m living off what I earn through my writing right now. This isn’t so bad, except writing income tends to arrive over the course of months, and is less than helpful when you need money right away. So to meet some expenses in the meantime, I’m hiring myself out as a manuscript editor and self-publishing a guidebook for writers who want to get their work into print. The Starter Guide for Professional Writers is a whole-picture handbook that helps you finish your...
Read MorePromoting Your Writing: Now is the Time to Keep the Faith
In the story, that is, although it’s completely understandable if you’d rather kneel through a litany of novenas or light candles on the altar of the deity of your choice in hope of landing on the Times Bestseller list. You can’t effectively promote a story you don’t believe in. This is the most important thing to remember once your story is published and it becomes your job to spread the word about it. Driving promotion is the belief that people will buy your...
Read MoreHanging Up My Shingle
The semester is almost over, I’m graduating, and I’ve decided to give myself a few more months in D.C. searching for a job in the field. It’s a decision I’m very excited about, but in the meantime it means I’ll be living on my own without a regular paycheck in a not-inexpensive urban environment. To stretch my savings, I’m offering my services as a manuscript doctor, offering developmental critique of novels and short stories. I’ve done critiques for...
Read MoreMaking Promotional Bookmarks–from Postcards!– on VistaPrint
Before visiting WisCon last year, I printed a set of 400 bookmarks to distribute promoting my work (including my ebook Aqua Vitae). The bookmarks were designed by a friend, the multitalented Matthew Luckow, and printed using VistaPrint. Side A shows a crop of Aqua Vitae’s cover, with a narrow cream-colored border that isn’t revealed in this image. The back side has a logline/description, reviewer quote, and link to the book’s page on WolfSinger’s site. In the end...
Read MoreHello World
This blog happens to be started in the midst of a crisis of identity for me. I’ve just recently graduated college and am finishing one last semester in Washington, D.C. before…what? I’m making the shift from student to young professional. I think that young professional’s career will lie in the nonprofit sector, but anything more specific than that I’m still feeling out. In my time I’ve been a volunteer income tax preparer, a cashier, a library page, a...
Read MoreAbout Therese
Therese Arkenberg's first short story was accepted for publication on January 2, 2008, and her second acceptance came a few hours later. Since then they haven't always been in such a rush, yet her work appears in places like Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Analog, Daily Science Fiction, and the anthology Sword & Sorceress XXIV. Aqua Vitae, her science fiction novella, was released by WolfSinger Publications in December 2011.
She works as a freelance editor and writer in Wisconsin, where she returned after a brief but unforgettable time in Washington, D.C. When she isn't reading, writing, or editing (it's true!) she serves on the board of the Plowshare Center of Waukesha, which works for social, economic, and environmental justice.