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

Paper or No Paper

Hi Folks, Recently, Dean Wesley Smith talked in his blog about the fear of publishing. It’s a good article, and I recommend it. However, his article is tied to his Great Publishing Challenge. Seems he received a lot of comments that (to him) indicate fear of some aspect of publishing as the reason people don’t want to jump into the challenge. I was going to post a comment to his article, but I decided to publish … Read more

Requesting Your Recommendations

Hi Folks, Every now and then over the years, especially over at the Journal, I ask fellow writers for recommendations for websites. Most often I hear crickets. I’m not sure whether there are no other websites that you visit, or whether you just don’t want to share. Or maybe I’m just not specific enough with my request. I’ll try again. Please recommend the websites of any authors who 1. have written and published 10 or more … Read more

Writing Sales Copy (Book Descriptions)

Hey folks, Note: This post appeared in slightly different form on my Journal. If your books aren’t selling as well as you’d like, here’s the three-step process to more sales: 1. Write the next story or novel. The more work you have out there, the more discoverable you are and the more readers will take you seriously as an author. 2. Create (or have created) a genre- appropriate cover. 3. Write intriguing sales copy that hints … Read more

On Platitudes

Hi Folks, Recently, Alison Holt, a friend and writer whom I greatly respect and whose works I admire, posted an article in PWW titled “Beware the Platitude Trap.” As I commented on her post, I was pleased, in an unnerving kind of way, that she’d relegated “Just write the next sentence” to the status of “platitude.” I was both complimented and appropriately chastised. On one hand, it’s gratifying to know folks have heard “Just write the … Read more

An Important Post for Writers

Hey Folks, Before you read this post, see Dean Wesley Smith’s “Dumbest New Myth In Writing” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/dumbest-new-myth-in-writing/. It’s important. I also recommend you read the comments that follow the post. Tons of very useful, practical information there. After you’ve read it, here’s my take on the topic of what it costs to indie publish a book, step by step: Step one: I agree. Duh. Step two: If you have a good grounding in the rules … Read more

On Building Suspense and Creating Tension

Hi Folks, I recently listened to a 6-week classic workshop from WMG Publishing titled “Adding Suspense.” It was a useful workshop, but it became much more useful once I subsitituted “tension” for “suspense” as the instructor, Dean Wesley Smith, spoke. The substitution enabled me to separate the suspense that is an aspect of fiction from the suspense that is the old genre (think Alfred Hitchcock) and that morphed into the modern thriller genre. Suspense remains also … Read more

If You’re a Writer, Write

Hi Folks, While so many are attending monthly writers’ group or crique group meetings, rehashing the same tired advice writers have been swapping and kicking around for years, I write. While so many spend hours, days, months or even years outlining and researching and rewriting and polishing and doing any number of other kind’a sort’a writing-related things that aren’t actual writing… I write. And while so many actively search for (and find) any of myriad other … 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