Plotting for my next book almost complete...

Working on the plot for my next book. This one is really challenging the old nogging. Why do I do this to myself?

I come up with a good idea, then think "but what if we add a little complexity here", then think on it some more "and a little complexity over here as well"... before you know it, it's like juggling 20 balls at once. Still haven't had that "click" moment where everything fits together just perfectly, but it's getting there.

A little peek behind the curtain: this book is going to be about how people cope/react when something unthinkable happens in the world (hint: it's not a disaster, something else). I'll say no more on that

For this book I had been going back and forth on the degree to which I wanted to write to market. Which isn't to say tropes, but more playing with things I know would work but which are a tad formulaic. Which I did a bit with Obey and A Manufactured Mind but not with The Fall of Man trilogy. Obey and AMM are great stories (I think) but they weren't expansive in their scope.

I'm glad to say I've definitely resolved that and this next novel is going to be expansive in nature. Which is to say, it may turn out a mess, or it will be really good. Either way, it will be a story without compromise or constraint.

Exploring a multitude of themes isn't too hard in a trilogy, but it's a huge challenge in a standalone novel. But I think I can do it. I can say this much, no one is going to be able to guess how it will end until they reach the last page.

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Morgan Freeman Botches Reddit IAmA - Black Eye on PR

For those not familiar with Reddit it's basically a forum where people post interesting things on a wide variety of subjects. Postings gain popularity when people 'up vote' them and become more visible in their particular subreddit (a subreddit is simply a subject category, like politics or videos). One of Reddit's most popular subreddits is the IAmA subreddit - which allows reddit users to ask questions of various people. Over three million people subscribe to IAmA, which is also widely used by celebrities. An IAmA can last a couple hours during which Redditors (the term Reddit users call themselves) can ask the person doing the IAmA questions. The term "IAmA" comes from the concept of "I Am A doctor, ask me anything", "I Am A movie star, ask me anything" - you get the drift. IAmA's are not just for celebrities, lots of common folks do them as well. Recently Morgan Freeman did an IAmA and it turned into a PR mess. To make a lo...

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It's well known that CNN has been suffering an exodus of viewers, losing over half their viewership over the past couple of years. Yet Fox News has not lost viewers, but has increased its viewership slightly. It's an odd phenomena given that Fox news is clearly biased in their coverage. Mind you, so is CNN according to many. But I'd suggest it comes down to something much more simple. While Fox may be holding its ground, the rise of alternative media is taking off where CNN left off - a focus on hard news. For those of the under 40 crowd, that's what they are looking for, NEWS. The simplest way to highlight the difference between mainstream media and alternative media is to take a look at their homepages and the stories they highlight. It becomes very clear why people are turning away from CNN and turning to alternative media. Let's look at five media sites and their homepage (click on pictures to enlarge): CNN Feature stories: CNN heroes Top t...

E-cigarettes: A PR battle Health Canada cannot win?

So I've now been using an e-cigarette (e-cig) for two months and thought I'd talk a bit about how I see the upcoming battle between Health Canada and e-cigs going. First though, let's do a quick overview of what exactly an e-cig is. Basically an e-cig vaporizes liquid that contains nicotine. The vapor is then inhaled. People who use e-cigs are called vapers (not smokers). Because the liquid is atomized (ie. vaporized), not burned the way tobacco is, vapers do not consider themselves 'smokers' in anyway. An e-cig is comprised of basically three components: The tank - this is the component that holds the juice (sometimes referred to as e-juice or e-liquid). The atomizer - this a coil and wick unit that atomizes the juice. When the coil is heated (from the battery) it atomizes the juice that has soaked into the wick. The battery - batteries for e-cigs come in various capacities (some last 8 hours, others 40+ hours, depending on their size). The ba...

Inside the world of Rob Mclean, Author

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