Hey Folks, Well, yesterday I reported finishing a short story titled “Beats All.” Yesterday early evening I read it aloud to my wife. At the end, I frowned. “This sounds like the beginning of a novel, doesn’t it?” (I’ve long known and preached the value of reading aloud. Yet I’m still amazed at how valuable it really is.) She said, “Yes. It ended, but it isn’t finished.” Okay. Ugh. Now I have two novels going concurrently. … Read more
Hi Folks, For well over a year (as I write this, May 2015), I’ve been practicing pushing down my conscious, critical mind and the fear it brings to the table. Yet this morning as I was going through my morning wake-up ritual, fear flooded over me. This morning it’s back to the writing. I have at least one more prequel to write (it will be book 3 in the Wes Crowley series) and I’ve already started … Read more
Hey Folks, All right. Fourteen days left in the month, inclusive. If I’m gonna meet my monthly goal of writing at least one novel per month and my annual goal of writing at least 15 on the year, I have to get hot. (grin) By the way, that “get hot” thing isn’t pressure. For me, it’s a realizaton and good news. And writing a short story or two along the way wouldn’t kill me either. (Donors, … Read more
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