The Journal, Wednesday, 3/22

Hey Folks, First, thanks to all my long-time subscribers for hanging in there through the sparse posts as well as the longer ones. I appreciate you and your interest in these silly goings-on. Very much. Most often, when a post is longer (like today) it contains a topic that I hope you will find useful at least a friendly reminder. That’s kind’a my way of giving back. So thank you. Also, I’ve recently added a new … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 3/21

Hey Folks, Long post today. Get a beverage and gird your loins and stuff. Several major gems in Dean’s post today (see “Of Interest” below). For me, chief among them was the reminder that you can’t change the past and you can’t foresee what might happen in the future. So right there: don’t worry about it, and don’t worry about it. Don’t look back, move forward. Also some excellent advice on structuring a goal and on … Read more

How Does Cycling Fit with Writing Off Into the Dark?

Hey Folks, I encourage you to read this post. It revisits Cycling in the same way the previous post revisted Writing Off Into the Dark and continues it. Some have confused “cycling” with “rewriting.” One very good student of several of my own writing seminars recently wrote that she was about to perfom “cycling or rewriting or revising or redrafting or whatever other name you want to call it.” (Again, I’m paraphrasing, but you get the … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 3/20

Hey Folks, In keeping with my usual bent toward recommending excellent resources, I’ve found a new interior layout and cover design print source. Both the price and quality are excellent. That’s a hard combo to beat. A couple days ago, someone on DWS’s site recommended Cover to Upload as a good place to have covers designed. Dean agreed. This morning I checked out the site personally and have already emailed them with a few questions about … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 3/19

Hey Folks, Probably this will be another non-writing day. We’ll see. Yep, nonwriting day. Topic: Dean’s Lectures Okay, first, you can see all of Dean’s lectures (with complete descriptions) at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/lecture-series/. On the surface, lectures are more attractive because they cost less. Of course, you get a great deal more bang for your buck (in most cases) from the online workshops. So bearing that in mind, here are the lectures I recommend. If I don’t list … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 3/18

Hey Folks, My youngest son came in last night about 6 p.m. to stay for a few days. Writing takes a back seat. I’ll get to it when I do. * * * Well, I’m putting off the Dean’s Lectures topic for one more day. I’ll post it here tomorrow. For today, a continuation of yesterday’s topic, in which I did a comparison of the three major distributors of ebooks. In that one, mostly I was … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 3/17

Hey Folks, This morning, after spending about ten minutes with email and Facebook, I dived right into Smashwords. Time for some admin work and hard choices. That led to the topic below. I’ll be back tomorrow with another set of recommendations re DWS’ lectures (as opposed to his workshops). Topic: Why I’m No Longer Using Smashwords for My Novels and Short Stories This is kind of a personal author earnings report. I’ll still use Smashwords for … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 3/16

Hey Folks, Today will be a writing day. Not sure what yet, but a writing day. And then I’ll run the grandchild to work around 3:30. Every now and then, someone emails to ask what I think of one or another of DWS’ online workshops. As in, would I recommend it. First, I pretty generally ALWAYS recommend learning from someone who’s been-there-done-that. Especially if they’ve done it for a long time. Successfully. Because Duh. Of course, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 3/15

Hey Folks, Get a free ebook containing five mystery stories from Dean Wesley Smith at http://dl.bookfunnel.com/316tz5t3km. Then go to his website and sign up for his newsletter (right sidebar). It’s supposed to be a freebie for signing up. (grin) But I doubt he’d mind me sharing this link. Well, I’d like to start a new novel today. We’ll see. I’ll ease my way into it, though. Partly because at the moment I have no clue what … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 3/14

Hey Folks, I apologize for the extremely short post today. Finished the novel with a LOT of cycling, a shuffling of chapters, a short story derivation and one hell of an ending. (grin) Today, and Writing Rolled out at 4. To the Hovel around 9. Mostly cycling and shuffling today, along with two good sessions. Back tomorrow. Of Interest At Dean’s place, “The Magic Bakery and a Disappearing Bundle” at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/the-magic-bakery-and-a-disappearing-bundle/. If you’re interested in copyright, … Read more