Hey Folks, A few days ago I mentioned here that all the coyotes and other predators seem to have left the area. A day after I wrote that, the owls were back and I had a scare. This morning, the coyotes are back. Well now, isn’t that the way it always works? (grin) From around 4 a.m. I was serenaded for almost an hour straight by song dogs. No owls as yet, but I’m sure they’re … Read more
Hey Folks, Well, it’s Saturday. A short post today. As it stands, I’ve watered the yard, and I’m planning to take a drive and a hike to see some petroglyphs with my wife and Bryan. In the afternoon, I’ll either return to one of my WIPs or read. No pressure, no worries. I’m not stuck on either story. Just relaxing my way through the past couple of days, making other things and people priorities. Kind of … Read more
Hey Folks, Wow. Almost half the month gone already. Amazing what even one missed day of writing does to the productivity. And I might have another nonwriting day today. Bryan and I are headed for Sierra Vista this morning. Mostly to pick up a few essentials for him for his trek into a new life at Job Corps. That could happen as early as a couple of weeks from now. And plus, I just want to … Read more
Hey Folks, Well, I had a pretty good scare this morning. I let the little girl out with dim, pre-dawn light in the sky. She skittered off around the corner of the house to her favorite place to look through the fence. About the time I got settled at my outside table, a hoot owl started hooting. It was on a telephone pole some forty yards from the house. But immediately after that, as I was … Read more
Hey Folks, Well, something’s ‘off’ in my world today. Not sure what, and therefore not sure how to fix it. I’m annoyed. I’ll leave it at that. I’m also not sure what will happen around here today. So I’m calling this a nonwriting day. (Turned out to be a writing day after all.) I won’t write, at least not fiction, unless a lot of stuff in my mind settles out. Maybe I’ll start a new website … Read more
Hi Folks, Many of you know I put a lot of stock in Dean Wesley Smith’s advice, but sometimes he tosses a blanket over a topic and beats it to death with assumptions and generalizations. When he’s talking about things he knows about, his advice can be golden. I’ve learned a great deal from him. However, he has his prejudices like anyone else. I suspect he was burned once by a bad freelance editor (or book … Read more
Hey Folks, I meant to say thank you yesterday to those of you who emailed me privately with ideas for publishing a paper edition of two novels in one book like they did with some of the old pulp novels. I appreciate all the input. Still not sure it’s worth all the effort just to produce a novelty that only I would appreciate. (grin) But if I take that path, I’ll keep you posted. * * … Read more
Hey Folks, I hope you check out my site from time to time, especially the left sidebar under Writers’ Resources. This morning I needed a refresher (and ready reference) for the police 10-codes. So I found a reference and added a link under “A-Police 10-Codes.” Anyway, check that sidebar now and then. There’s a lot of good stuff there. * * * Well, as it turned out I took most of the day off. During that … Read more
Hey Folks, Yesterday turned out to be productive, albeit not with actual writing. I did create a cover and a promo doc and get the new book up in all major e-venues. But this morning, something was bugging me about that cover. It just didn’t pop off the page. So I revised it. Now it reflects “noir” better and it pops off the page. That’s it on the left over there. Topic: Thoughts on Novel Two-Fers … Read more
Hey Folks, I’ve learned a great deal about writing over the past three years. It’s also been a long time since I last taught a seminar. That was in September, 2014. A month after that, I taught an actual writing workshop based on Writing Into the Dark. But then, other than bits and blurbs in emails or the occasional edit or brief presentation, I stopped teaching. I devoted myself to my own writing. Now, nearing 30 … Read more