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
Hey Folks, Wow. This afternoon around 3 p.m. it will have been only two days since I finished The Pyramid Killer. And already I’m jonesing to get back to writing another story. As I told my wife this morning, I went to the Hovel for a few minutes yesterday, on a task not related to writing. I didn’t even open my writing ‘puter while I was out there. But I did run a hand over it. … Read more
Hey Folks, This morning I approved and responded to a comment on my latest ProWriters post over on the big blog. After I did that, I read over the post. It was a topic from the Journal a couple of years ago. And I noticed that I had quoted some stats: “Through yesterday, May 9, 2015 (as I write this) 128 days have passed since January 1. During that 128 days, I’ve written 284,100 publishable words … Read more
Hi Folks, Note: I originally wrote this back on May 9, 2015 for my Daily Journal. It’s valid information. I hope you will enjoy it and find it useful. More than once I’ve mentioned Heinlein’s Rules. You can actually get your free copy here. If you follow those rules, you will be a professional writer, period. Not only that, but others will consider you prolific, even if you’re not. As an aside, still others will consider … Read more
Hey Folks, Huh. Guess we made it back. Otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this. I played catch up with some email and FB stuff last night, but was too tired to tackle photos from the trip. I’ll do that this morning, then ease my way back into writing The Pyramid Killer. Of course, I’ll begin by cycling back through. Probably I’ll read the first few paragraphs of every chapter to reacquaint myself with the story. Even … Read more
Hey Folks, I’m just gonna kind’a fudge this one for now. Almost completely a placeholder post. I’m sure while we were in the Lower Gila Box Wilderness north of Lordsburg, we slathered philosophy, talked various and sundry topics to death, and took a veritable plethora of photographs. Oh, by the way, “plethora” and “myriad” are not interchangeable. We might have taken “a plethora” of photos, or we might have taken “myriad photos” (but not “a myriad … Read more