A New Science Fiction Epic Is On The Way

Hi folks, I went through a 4-month writing drought, but that’s all over now. I’ve just released THE ARK, the first book in The Ark series. Here’s the description: Stephen Hawking once wrote that “[E]ither a nuclear confrontation or environmental catastrophe will cripple the Earth at some point in the next 1,000 years. However, by then our ingenious race will have found a way to slip the surly bonds of Earth and will therefore survive the … Read more

Take Your Time, Part 4

Hi Folks, Long time no talk to. This post is unabashedly copied and pasted from my Journal at https://hestanbrough.com. Ya’ll come on over. Be forewarned, I’m in a satirical, cynical, fun-loving, finger-wagging mood today. But with a lesson. With that in mind, read on. I’ve read several novels in which the characters are apparently capable of quantum movement. As I understand it (and I am often wrong) the term “quantum motion” is most often applied to … Read more

New Mentorships Are Available!

Hey folks, Long time no talk-to. I hope you’re all well and muddling through the various lockdowns, hurricanes, wildfires etc. that seem to just keep coming. I’ll be glad when this year is relegated to history. After a solid week of putting together six new mentorship programs and thanks to input from a former mentoring student and from my wife, I’m finally ready to pull the trigger on them. There are six in all. Three are … Read more

Musings on My Buddy Wes

Hey Folks, A few months ago, my family and I attended a local Native American art fair in the small city park in Tombstone. There, I admired an original pencil drawing that depicted the main characters from Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove films, Augustus “Gus” McCrae, portrayed by Robert Duvall, and Captain Call, portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones. One of my sons bought the drawing and presented it to me later as a gift. He knew what … Read more

Book Sale and Book Giveaway

Hi Folks, Thanks for sticking with me through my absence from posting here on my author website. As you know, this has become my virtual newsletter. In the future, I hope to share tidbits about the worlds in which I write and the characters who inhabit them. But for today, a dual announcement— First, I recently enrolled all of my books at Smashwords in the Authors Give Back Sale. All of my books are marked at … Read more

Readers, Want To Be Part Of My Street Team?

Hey Folks, I hope you’ll find this an exciting announcement! For some time now, I’ve offered short stories and novels as rewards to those who support me as a first reader or as a patron (see https://hestanbrough.com/become-a-patron/). Now I’m taking it to the next level. Six years into my journey as a professional fiction writer, I’m finally starting a street team. If you’d like to read every short story and/or every novel I publish at your … Read more

An Incredibly Generous Offer

Hi Folks, This post is especially for writers or for those who have writers in their lives. As we all struggle to get through the pandemic and the government and public reaction to it… Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch are offering an incredible FIFTY PERCENT OFF of everything on Teachable, but only for the next 48 hours. For details, including the special code, see “March Sadness Special” at https://kriswrites.com/2020/03/17/march-sadness-special/. I urge you to find … Read more

Cave Creek, Nevada

Hi Folks, A short post today for an exciting announcement. Over the next few months, I’ll be writing stories for a great new series of anthologies set in the fictional town of Cave Creek, Nevada. Asked how he would describe Cave Creek, the “mayor” of the town and editor of the anthologies, Dean Wesley Smith, said, “If Twilight Zone still existed, it’s home town would be Cave Creek.” The first anthology will be historical, set in … Read more

Preaching to the Choir (I Hope)

Hi Folks, Note: This is the final writer-instruction post in this series. Thanks for being along for the ride all these years. If you’re a writer, and if you’d like to continue to get writing tips and topics almost every day, please head on over to my Daily Journal at https://hestanbrough.com and subscribe there. It’s free. You can also stay on here. After all, what better way to verify that I practice what I preach than … Read more

Think Like a Writer

Hey Folks, If you’re going to be a writer, it helps to think like a writer. Especially if you’re one of those who has trouble coming up with story ideas. This morning, I was browsing a magazine article about the new SLS launch system that will someday land human beings on Mars. The particular rocket segment I was reading was about a mock-up, a life-sized, true-weight model. So it wasn’t the actual rocket, and it wasn’t … Read more