Hey Folks, I love being my age. It’s a built-in excuse for being grouchy about all manner of things. Woohoo! A couple of days ago, I wrote “One of my Brooklyn guys (that’s him on the left) dropped in to say, ‘Hey, whadda you know from females, am I right?’ To which I replied, ‘Wull, yeah. But it has to be done, right?’” Then I forgot to add the pic. (sigh) Okay, so THAT’S him on … Read more
Hey Folks, REALLY slow start today. Not with the story. It’s fine. I just stayed up too late and then had a bout of insomnia. So a lot of waking-up, dawdling time this morning. Drizzling rain here this morning. When I’d been up about an hour, I, a good cigar and my second mugga coffee headed outdoors with my laptop to play Spider, read some stuff (see “Of Interest”), etc. Of course, halway through the cigar … Read more
Hey Folks, It’s Saturday, so I’d like to be done a little early. With that in mind, I set firmly in my brain last night that I wanted to get up at 2 a.m. I used to do that all the time (set a mental alarm clock) back in the day and it always worked. But I haven’t tried it consciously for years. It worked this morning. Topic: A Reminder to Let It Be This notion … Read more
Hey Folks, I’ve received some interesting and heartfelt comments lately. I appreciate them. I haven’t allowed any of them through as comments on the blog because they were personal rather than of interest to writers. But I’ll always respond privately. Several (thank you) offered blessings. One was a tad derogatory. What I write in this Journal never is for self-aggrandizement. Trust me, I have a big enough ego that I don’t need that. (grin) In every … Read more
This is for my granddaughter Amber, who has known Dexter for a very long time. * * * When Dexter Murfee Nettleson approached the cash register at the front of the Morning Store, he had everything he needed to create a wonderful day. He’d found smiles on Aisles 5 and 7, giggles on 3 and 8, and belly laughs on 10. The ones with the hands attached to the sides of the belly were toward the … Read more
Hey Folks, Topic: Planning This kind of goes along with Dean’s post on traveling and writing and my recent post on life events or life rolls and writing. Notice, the common denominator is writing. If you don’t write, substitute the activity that is nearest and dearest to your heart and keep reading. (grin) I was doing the early morning shift for quite awhile (maybe two years?), getting up at 2 or 3 and hitting the sack … Read more
Hey Folks, I learn something new with pretty much every novel I’ve ever written. Usually that has to do specifically with the writing process, and more specifically with novels. But sometimes I get lucky and learn or realize something that can enhance any storyline, long or short. Topic: The Five Stages of “Grief” More correctly, these should be called The Five Stages of Emotional Upheaval. It seems they don’t pertain only to grief. Most of my … Read more
Hey Folks, Well, today we can call January 1/3 over. At my current rate, I should be able to clear 70,000 words this month. Maybe 80,000. We’ll see. I hope you’re having similar success. Now if I can only come up with a novel idea for the January-February transition. (grin) I wanna do something off-planet, something science fictiony or science fantasy-y. So I’ll probably write a western. (grin) Topic: Save Early, Save Often I know, old … Read more
Note: This post was originally scheduled for October 2014. It didn’t post to MailChimp, so I’m posting it again now. I’ve revised the original post so it’s up to date. For anyone who’s interested, The Professional Fiction Writer: A Year in the Life is available for preorder in all electronic venues. It will ship on January 15. Hi Folks, Well, let’s get right to it. First, I am a professional fiction writer as well as a … Read more
Hey Folks, Another slow start today, basically doing almost nothing the first two-plus hours. Also I was beginning to feel a little stalled on the novel. Which is silly. This thing is so rich for storylines and subplots that it isn’t even funny. The difficult part (for me), especially as I write a novel that depends, in part, on characters and situation from an earlier novel is to remember to just have fun with it. I … Read more