Writing Action Scenes

Hey Folks, I’ve wanted to write a post on this for awhile now, and it’s finally time. This post results directly from a high-action scene, a fight scene, I wrote back in April in my crime/action-adventure/thriller novel Blackwell Ops 5: Georgette Tilden. It was probably the best high-action scene I’d ever written, at least up to that point. This isn’t so much a “how-to” as a “how-I-do-it” post. All of this will go to my individual … Read more

Priorities

Hey Folks, f you’re going to be a professional anything, you have to make that anything a priority. If you’re still in the workforce, that priority is set for you if you want to continue to draw a paycheck. If you’re a cop, you have to put on the uniform once a day and go clean up human dregs. If you’re a mechanic or a construction guy, you have to show up at a particular time … Read more

On Being a Hybrid Writer, Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of this post, you can see it HERE or HERE. Hey Folks, To continue briefly with the discussion I started re traditional publishers, I have two motivating factors: One is the possibility that lightning will strike in the form of a large paycheck. Yeah, that would be nice. Two, at the moment I’m not wanting to expend the effort to publish my own paperback version of my books. Nor do I … Read more

On Being a “Hybrid” Writer

Hi Folks, At 66 years old, with 40-some novels and almost 200 short stories under my belt, I’ve decided to go hybrid. I’m announcing it here, publicly, because it’s a major personal policy shift for me and because it might be something for others to think about. To be clear, this isn’t something I recommend, but it’s something I recommend looking into. Part 1: Statement, History and Rationale My work has been traditionally published before. I’ve … Read more

On Licensing and the Importance of Copyright

Hi Folks, This special post comes mid=week because, well, it’s important. If you write at all, you need to understand the value of your short story or novel. You need to understand what you own—Copyright. Intellectual Property (IP)—and you need to understand that you own the right to license that IP. As an aside, THIS is the big reason I’ve always been so frantic about getting the next short story or novel out. Because that one … Read more