Pro Writers

If You’re a Writer and I’m a Reader, You Owe Me Something

Hey Folks, There were a lot of good comments on James Scott Bell’s “Editing is Dying, Grunting Soon to Follow” in the Kill Zone blog. If you haven’t read it (I recommend it) you can find the post and the comments at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/04/editing-is-dying-grunting-soon-to-follow.html. Reading the comments was an eye-opening experience. Someone, a writer no less, actually advocated for the spelling of “all right” as “alright,” which, honestly, is just laziness. It’s the same reason some folks … Read more

The Clearing

Hey Folks, Back to books written under my own name. Something for crime/mystery/detective fans out there. The clearing. It’s beautiful. It’s remote. It’s a perfect setting for magic and romance and the plucking of young, ripe, forbidden fruit. And it’s a graveyard. This is a strongly emotional, fast-paced crime thriller / psychological suspense novel. On one side, Randall B Cregg’s father has always hoped his son would feel a calling to take over the church someday. … Read more

Have a Clue

Hey Folks,   This morning (as I write this) I read a new post on a site I often reference. I was stunned, and not in a good way. I was reminded again of the preacher in the film “Oh God.” The problem was, the preacher was a hypocrite. God (played by George Burns) said, “The guy ought to be selling Earth shoes.” That sums up my philosophy about entirely too many so-called writing instructors. I … Read more

Confessions of a Professional Psychopath

Hey Folks, Today I wanted to share the only novel that’s still listed under one of my pen names. Enjoy! Charles Claymore Task has been labeled a psychopath by hypocrites who see themselves as “normal.” And a group of wealthy investors want to know what makes him tick.  They ask him to to detail for a film crew what makes people like him tick. At least that’s the initial plan. On film, Charlie describes the abandonment, disillusionment, … Read more

Practice Is Important

Hi Folks, Note: This is a time-sensitive post, so I put off the post on bad writing instructors until July 10. Practice Is Important Part I — Rationale and a Harsh Truth About Hovering As it is in all art, practice in writing is important. Without practice, the writing craft and the writing itself goes stale. And as it is in all art, practice in writing is fun, if uncomfortable. Many writers still feel more comfortable … Read more

Jobs Like That: A Novella

Hey Folks, I’ll get to the novella Jobs Like That in a moment. But first, like all fiction writers everywhere, I Need Reviews. So I’m creating a Smashwords coupon for each of my major works of fiction. One for each novel, novella and short story collection. In addition to being a major distributor, Smashwords is also an online bookstore. But unlike the other online bookstores, once you purchase a book at Smashwords you can download it … Read more

The Dark Side of Streaks

Hey Folks, I talked here awhile back about the power of streaks. A “streak” means repeatedly hitting a certain regularly scheduled goal without missing. When you miss, the streak ends. For example, say you are determined to write 1000 words per day every day. The more days you do that in a row, the more powerful the streak becomes because you won’t want to miss. As a nice aside, and if you did do that for … Read more

New Format Coming

Hey Folks, Big changes are coming to this website. In my role as a writing instructor, I’ve worked hard to make sure this site has always been a good resource for other writers. From the free Pro Writers blog posts to the Free Downloads and Writer Resources pages to several different audio lectures, you can learn pretty much anything you want to know to enhance your skills as a writer. All of those things will still … Read more

The Original Heinlein’s Rules

Hey Folks, In recent years, say about the last 40 or 50, many would-be writers have gotten away from writing. They set out to write, but then allow themselves to be trapped in a vicious circle. Some don’t even actually write. Instead, they meet with writers and other would-be writers in groups and rehash all the same old advice that hasn’t worked for them thus far. They attend conferences and conventions. They strive to meet writers … Read more

On Publishing, Indie-Publishing and Making a “Name” as a Published Author

Hey Folks, I received a query from a writer who’s interested in a copyedit. He also asked whether I would help him find an agent and a traditional publisher. Uhh, no. After I explained why I thought the agent chase and traditional publishing in general was not a good idea, he wrote in reponse “About publication: I agree with you. However, I want not money but name as a published author, which you know somebody does … Read more