I apologize for being one day late with my update. My life has been chaotic. First there was my surgery, then there was the 71% rent increase (that’s not a typo) that turned my life upside down and forced me to move. For those of you who don’t know, I live in Seattle, been here for 4 years and life is getting EXPENSIVE. Property values have shot through the roof and it’s hard for a lowly paid writer like me to live. The good news is that I found a home at the last minute that’s within my budget. But going through all of this chaos has delayed everything on the writing side of things. However, I do have a release date for the sequel to New Hope City. I will release the second book by Fall 2015. It may come earlier, but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. I KNOW I can get this book released by the Fall, so that’s the date I’m going with. Thank you all for your support and patience!
Life Changes and An Update
31 OctI just wanted to let my readers know that I have NOT dropped off the face of the planet. The past month has been INSANE. To make a long story short I have surgery next week and I’ll be down for at least a month. The short of it is that I have a very large mass in my abdomen which must be removed so I need to go in for surgery. This thing came out of the blue and really scared me, so I’ve been focused on myself for the past month, just trying to stay healthy and calm. But don’t worry, my doctor expects me to fully recover. So I plan to be back soon with more stories, books and blog posts. Wish me luck.
Please Don’t Waste Your Life
26 JulI found this cool image on the internet and I wanted to share it.
This is probably one of the most powerful images I’ve found on the internet. So many people, myself included, waste time and energy on the things that aren’t important. Let’s take this woman’s advice and invest the life we have into living to the fullest, whatever that means for us.
SunHi Mistwalker writes fiction set in dystopian and post-apocalyptic worlds. Her new novel New Hope City, a dark coming-of-age story set in a post-apocalyptic America, follows the life of Sunni Brown, a teenage girl exploited by sex traffickers who tries to get a fresh start when she meets a disillusioned cop. She is also the author of the science fiction series After The Darkness. Please sign up for the mailing list for receive updates, freebies and special discounts. You can also follow SunHi on Twitter and Facebook.
Happy Thanksgiving! (Yeah, I know it’s kinda late)
29 NovHappy Thanksgiving!
I feel like it’s been a long time since I updated my blog, but I wanted wish everyone a Happy (belated) Thanksgiving. It has been two years since I started publishing my fiction and I’ll say one thing, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for.
The Gift of Life
I’ve just had another birthday and I’m extremely thankful for the gift of life. In the past few years I’ve lost my mom, my grandfather, and few other friends of friends who definitely left this place well before their time. Every loss reminds me of just how fleeting life is and that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. The funny thing about it is that as time passes and I mature, I’m finding myself less stressed, less anxious, and more content with life. I’m learning to enjoy the journey just as much as reaching my destination.
The Gift of Friends and Family
Love is a verb, and there’s nothing like feeling loved and loving towards others. I’m thankful for all those people surrounding me who care about me, pick me up when I’m down, and remind me that I’m special to them. When it comes to loved ones, I consider myself amongst the lucky few who have people in their life willing to stick with them even in the most difficult times.
The Gift of Writing
You know the old cliché that we’re all given talents and it’s up to us to use them effectively? Well, that’s how I view writing. I consider myself blessed to have the passion and talent for writing and the good foresight to cultivate my skills.
The Gift of Readers
This indie publishing journey has been made amazing, not just by the act of independent publishing, but by all the readers who have bought my stories. I’m eternally grateful to you all. Thank you!
A Few Story Updates
For those of you waiting for After The Darkness: Episode 6 and the sequel to New Hope City, I’m still working on them. I don’t have a publication date, but signup for my mailing list and I’ll let you know when they’re available.
SunHi Mistwalker writes fiction set in dystopic and post-apocalyptic worlds. Her new novel New Hope City, a dark coming-of-age story set in a post-apocalyptic America, follows the life of Sunni Brown, a teenage girl exploited by sex traffickers who tries to get a fresh start when she meets a disillusioned cop. She is also the author of the science fiction series After The Darkness. Please sign up for the mailing list for receive updates, freebies and special discounts. You can also follow SunHi on Twitter and Facebook.
Why I’ve Been So Quiet
1 Aug
I’m usually pretty good about updating this blog, but for the past month I’ve been busy writing the After The Darkness series and working on some short stories as part of the Clarion West Write-a-thon. Right now I’m almost halfway through the sixth episode for After The Darkness which will complete the first season. I’ve also recently finished a first draft of a short story set in the same world. And in addition to all of that I’ve been taking classes and connecting with other writers offline. And because I don’t have much time, I’ll need to make this post short. Back to writing!
SunHi Mistwalker writes fiction set in dystopic and post-apocalyptic worlds. Her new novel New Hope City, a dark coming-of-age story set in a post-apocalyptic America, follows the life of Sunni Brown, a teenage girl exploited by sex traffickers who tries to get a fresh start when she meets a disillusioned cop. She is also the author of the science fiction series After The Darkness. Please sign up for the mailing list for receive updates, freebies and special discounts. You can also follow SunHi on Twitter and Facebook.
Public Appearance: Elliot Bay Bookstore
13 Mar
I will be reading from my novel “New Hope City” next month, please join me.
Date: April 14, 2013
Venue: Elliot Bay Bookstore – 1521 Tenth Avenue, Seattle WA 98122
Time: 1:45pm – 2:10pm
Fee: It’s free!
Paperback versions of this book will be for sale and I will autograph your copy.
I’ve Been Accepted: The Artist Trust EDGE Professional Development Program
26 Feb
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been selected to participate in the Artist Trust’s 2013 EDGE Professional Development Program for Literary Artists. EDGE is a nationally acclaimed 50+ hour training program designed to give writers the business skills they need to create sustainable careers. As most of you know, SunHi Mistwalker is a pseudonym I’ve used to pen speculative fiction since the later part of 2011. But I’ve been writing for a lot longer than that. I currently work as a full-time non-fiction ghostwriter and I’ve written screenplays and stage plays as well as short stories under by legal name. I applied for this professional program so that I could hone the business skills necessary to ensure that my fiction career is long and fulfilling. If you live in Seattle, you may have the opportunity to meet me and my fellow EDGE participants when we present our work at the Elliot Bay Bookstore. I’ll update you with the details once they’re finalized.
A reminder! After The Darkness: Episode #4 will be released February 28, 2013.
Win A $100 Gift Card and Other Prizes
25 NovI’m participating in a Science Fiction Giveaway and discount bonanza for the After The Darkness series. Participate in the giveaway by signing up with the Rafflecopter and find free and discounted science fiction books here.
Free Short Story On Smashwords
10 Jul“The Shelter” is free on Smashwords for a limited time as part of a July summer sale. Use the coupon code: SSWIN to get your free copy now.
In other news…I’m still working on the edit of my novel. It’s the follow up to “The Shelter” and it looks like it may expand beyond the 40,000 words I originally planned. It’s funny how these things happen. It’s grown quite a bit since I first began my edit. But the additions are definitely improvements. I can’t wait to share with you guys!
Ray Bradbury On Writer Hygiene
20 JunColin Marshall did a great summary of the video so I won’t rehash it. Here’s a little of what he said below. If you want to read more, check out Open Culture.
- Don’t start out writing novels. They take too long. Begin your writing life instead by cranking out “a hell of a lot of short stories,” as many as one per week. Take a year to do it; he claims that it simply isn’t possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row. He waited until the age of 30 to write his first novel, Fahrenheit 451. “Worth waiting for, huh?”
- You may love ‘em, but you can’t be ‘em. Bear that in mind when you inevitably attempt, consciously or unconsciously, to imitate your favorite writers, just as he imitated H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle, and L. Frank Baum.
- Examine “quality” short stories. He suggests Roald Dahl, Guy de Maupassant, and the lesser-known Nigel Kneale and John Collier. Anything in the New Yorker today doesn’t make his cut, since he finds that their stories have “no metaphor.”
- Stuff your head. To accumulate the intellectual building blocks of these metaphors, he suggests a course of bedtime reading: one short story, one poem (but Pope, Shakespeare, and Frost, not modern “crap”), and one essay. These essays should come from a diversity of fields, including archaeology, zoology, biology, philosophy, politics, and literature. “At the end of a thousand nights,” so he sums it up, “Jesus God, you’ll be full of stuff!”
Get your copy of my newest book “After The Darkness” now. Both episode 1 and 2 are available.
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