Happy Halloween one and all!

Have a spook-tacular night!

Writing, introversion, and extroversion: who's got the upper hand?

One of the things I love about Twitter is that sometimes people post links to really interesting articles (or funny photos of cats/puppies/babies, which are good too). A couple weeks back, @YukonGraham posted a link to a Psychology Today article called "Revenge of the Introvert," by Laurie Helgoe, and I've been thinking about said article ever since. The basic gist of it is, about half the people in the world are introverts, and half are extroverts, and the two halves experience socializing in different ways. Introverts (who are not necessarily shy), enjoy socializing one-on-one or in smaller groups, and need time to reflect and process information. Large, loud gatherings can be overstimulating for the introvert, who values quiet solitude at least part of the time in order to think about things and decide how he or she feels. The extrovert, by contrast, thrives in the busy social world of large parties, clubs, and the like. For the extrovert, too much time alone can be boring rather than rewarding.

Of course, most people fall along a scale, sometimes feeling more introverted, and sometimes more extroverted. But I think that most people fall more to one side than the other, and if they had to pick, they would readily know in which category they best fit.

Writing other things

Recently I started writing short stories again, after not having written one in a couple of years. I had been focusing on my novel for so long that I started to miss that feeling of having finished something. It's also is a good release-valve, allowing me to take a break from the novel when I'm getting frustrated, and blow off some creative steam. I've written a rather dark, depressing magical realism piece, and I've got some ideas for children's stories building up. It feels good to see finished things piling up in my short stories folder, and if I can improve my craft (I've never felt that I've really mastered the short story form), I may end up with some pieces that I can submit to literary magazines and competitions.

So, this makes me curious. Do you other aspiring novelists have side-projects that you work on? Do you short story writers have secret novels hidden away on your hard drives? Do you submit work to magazines and competitions, and, if so, to which publications do you submit? Feel free to post links in the comments to your published work!

Want to start reading comics, but don't know where to start?

If you're a comics reader, this will be old news to you. In August 2011, DC Comics ended all of their monthly superhero storylines, and started fresh in September with a relaunch of 52 issue number ones.

There are also other changes to the DC universe—many characters have been updated with new costumes and backstories, and the worlds have been modernized to make the stories more accessible.

If you haven't read comics before, but are curious about what they have to offer; or if, like me, you've only started reading comics recently, this is exciting news—it means you can start following the stories from the beginning, without any prior knowledge of the characters or universe.

I read a few of the first issues last week, and I found Aquaman, Batgirl, and Superman to be very good. Check them out at your local comic shop or order them online.

 Further suggestions for beginning comic readers:

• You can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman. His Sandman series follows Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams, and is filled to the brim with allusions to literature and mythology. It's also won a whole lot of Eisner Awards.
• Joe the Barbarian is a series I really enjoyed—told through the eyes of a boy suffering from hypoglycemia, whose hallucinations turn his house into a fantasy landscape he must battle his way through—with the help of his pet rat—to get to the kitchen and drink a can of soda before King Death can defeat him. Magical, action-packed, and sad. Written by Grant Morrison, illustrated by Sean Murphy.
• One of my personal favorites is an independent graphic novel called I Kill Giants, written by Joe Kelly and illustrated by J.M. Kim Niimura. The protagonist is misfit schoolgirl Barbara Thorson, who lives in a fantasy world to escape an impending family tragedy. In her imagination, Barbara is a giant killer; giants, of course, represent the personal disaster she tries desperately to ward off. 

So, readers, what are your favorite comic books and graphic novels? Do you read comics religiously, or are you an occasional dabbler?

What nobody tells beginners

I found this quote on facebook, where it's lately been circulating among artistic types. I wish I had read this when I first started writing seriously—it would have helped a lot with the fear of not being good enough. But I think it's relevant for all aspiring author types, so here you go: