Tag: Literature

Five Books I Loved Reading in High School (That I Would Have Never Admitted at the Time)

Posted on by A.P. Miller in Blog

Being a bibliophile with Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) comes with a unique set of challenges. First, the books have to be the kind of book that grips me from the beginning and stimulates dopamine production in a big way. Second, if someone tells me I have to read a book, I have absolutely no desire to read it whatsoever. I’m sure you can see how reading assignments in high school were a challenge.

I’ve always had a desire to be well-read and I am for the most part. The struggle with ADHD, and trying to cope with the disorder while it isn’t being properly managed, is that people who aren’t aware of the affliction may think I was just a slacker. When getting a reading assignment, I wanted to devour the work, but executive dysfunction wouldn’t allow me. When you struggle with wanting to be something, and your body not allowing you to do so, you develop defense mechanisms. One of my biggest ones was aversion to authority. If I gave the impression that I was going to buck against authority, no one would be surprised when I did, and I wouldn’t let anyone down.

For this week’s blog, I wanted to share five books I loved reading in high school (or was told to, read them later in life, and kicked myself for not enjoying them at the time) that I would never admit when I was being assigned the reading — because I wanted people to see me as anti-authority.

Continue reading “Five Books I Loved Reading in High School (That I Would Have Never Admitted at the Time)” →

The Book Bid’niss: Valuable Business Concepts I Use as a Writer

Posted on by A.P. Miller in Blog

Here’s a true story: the degree I’ve earned is in Business (specifically Business Administration, Management, & Marketing) and not in English. How’s that for a revelation coming from a writer? I love literature and I love being creative — I also have a very punk rock “do it yourself” mentality; couple that with my formal training and I can find ways to make my ideas work for me. Business can be a scary word, vulgar even, when it comes to subjecting your endeared creative work to its perverse nature — you don’t have to think like that. You can navigate the book business, the self-published author business, and I wanted to share what works for me. Continue reading “The Book Bid’niss: Valuable Business Concepts I Use as a Writer” →

Things That Made Sense to My Younger Self (That Are Absolute Madness to My Adult Self).

Posted on by A.P. Miller in Blog

Cringe. That’s the only reaction that makes sense when I think back to some of the things that I used to contribute to my style: I cringe. If I’m going to count my blessings on this aspect, it’s that not everyone had a camera phone when I was a teenager and some of the absolutely foolish things that my era did as children won’t come back to haunt us (outside of oral tradition). The generation after this one is going to have a field day arguing parental directive with photographic evidence. Continue reading “Things That Made Sense to My Younger Self (That Are Absolute Madness to My Adult Self).” →

A Saturday in the Life of A.P. Miller

Posted on by A.P. Miller in Blog

I don’t necessarily look forward to Saturdays — I really like my day job and the people I work with, so …c’est la vie. What I do enjoy about Saturdays is that I will typically have an entire day to create and hopefully type towards my ultimate goal of being a Pulitzer Prize Winning, New York Times Best Selling Author. I still work towards my word count during the weekday evenings (and even holidays), but Saturday is mine to do with what I like. To celebrate such a day, I’ve decided to break down what tomorrow will look like for me. Continue reading “A Saturday in the Life of A.P. Miller” →

I’ve Learned Some Things…

Posted on by A.P. Miller in Blog

Have you heard? Broken Promise Records hit electronic store shelves this week! Buy a copy, and talk to me about it!

The process of writing Broken Promise Records has been a real experience; it’s an experience that expanses over years, states, cities, and who I am as a whole. When the book began, all I had to work with was an idea, and borrowed time. When the book was finished, I was certain that I wasn’t the guy who started writing the book. Life had happened in between the first words being typed on a Google Doc and the ability to purchase the book. At the very least, I can say that my initial efforts, while seeming insurmountable, did come to fruition. I finished the project, and that’s a huge ordeal for me.

“BPR” is the first writing project of mine that didn’t begin with a written outline, or careful notes. It started with a character that I identified with, in a head space that I had been before, and the common hope that he and I could change existing circumstance. It was a very surreal experience, how some of the characters came together and fell apart. Lori Marshall is a character in the book who kind of told me how her story was going to go.