The Writing Life

The Journal, Thursday, 12/1

Hey Folks, A brand new month! Yay! I received an exciting email yesterday from Claudia Benitez Garcia. Claudia is the editor of the Cultural section of a beautiful Mexican magazine called Este País (http://www.estepais.com/). Two or three years ago, I received another email from a gentleman named Pedro Poitevin. He asked my permission to translate my triolet (poem) “God?”. Permission? Are you kidding? Of course, I was honored and told him so. Then in yesterday’s email, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 11/30

Hey Folks, Yesterday was so hectic, I actually forgot to view and listen to the Week 5 videos of the DWS workshop I’m taking right now. So I spent the first couple of hours this morning doing that. Well, summer in southeast Arizona is officially over. Shortly after the sun came up this morning (pilot light was on, blower wasn’t working yet) it was 21° outside. Ugh. No moisture in the air to hold in the … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 11/29

Hey Folks, Whew! Rolled out a little after 4 this morning, and had an email requesting a list of my books. When I tried to reply, the email bounced. Uh oh. So I set to work trying to figure out why I couldn’t reply from “orders@stonethreadpublishing.com.” Finally, almost three hours later, I figured out how to correct the problem. Narrowly avoided a disaster there. But I did avoid it and I learned something in the process. … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 11/28

Hey Folks, Rolled out a little late at 3:30. Checked email and Facebook stuff. Then I went to work on a huge Christmas Sale for StoneThread Publishing. We’re practically giving them away (grin). This sale went “live” on Facebook this morning (Monday, 11/28). But we wanted to give you guys a little better pricing. Note that all prices are valid only through StoneThread Publishing. Even if we decide to run a sale through various vendors, those … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 11/27

Hey Folks, I’m so spoiled. First, I have the best job in the world. Think about it. Day in, day out, I sit alone in a room making stuff up. It doesn’t get any better than that. And second, I live in southeast Arizona. So on my rising this morning it was almost 50° outside. I enjoyed a good cigar as I began the day with emails and Facebook and a few games of Spider solitaire … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 11/26

Hey Folks, Well, the transition from HEStanbrough.com to HarveyStanbrough.com with the Journal seems to have been flawless. No problems reported as yet. I rolled out around 3:30 this morning but did very little for the first 4+ hours other than email, Facebook and games. * * * The floor of our house, with the exception of the bedroom and the two offices, is Saltillo tiles. The house itself is rammed earth. Think adobe, but without bricks. … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 11/25

Hey Folks, Beginning today, I’m posting this Journal to my main site at HarveyStanbrough.com. If you came here looking for the Free Story of the Week, either scroll to the blog post below this or click the Free Story of the Week tab in the menu. It will still post every Friday at 8 a.m. If you’re looking for the Pro Writers blog post, click the Pro Writers tab in the menu. It will still post … Read more

Female Characters: On Being (or Not) PC

Hi Folks, Awhile back, another professional fiction writer drank some Kool-Aid. Then he wrote a post about strong female characters. Oh, except that you can’t qualify them as “strong” because that word has too many “male connotations.” So instead you have to “give them agency” and blah blah blah. Holy crap. And wholly crap. Do I have something against strong female characters? Hell no! But I do have something against the writer acting as a god, … Read more

NaNoWriMo (yawn, stretch)

Hey Folks, A friend sent me some information re the upcoming NaNoWriMo annual “challenge.” In case you’re interested, the link is Tips for Surviving the Agony and Ecstasy of NaNoWriMo. There, I’ve done my civic duty. Now I can play a bit. Okay, first, how about that title, eh? I mean, seriously, “The Agony and Ecstasy”? Does that evoke a picture of a poor, beleagured, suffering-for-his-art writer with one forearm flung dramatically across his forehead or … Read more

S-stuttering an’ St-stammering an’ St-stuff

Hi Folks, Note: This post was originally scheduled for 9/10/2013. It didn’t post to MailChimp, so I’m posting it again now. I’ve revised the original post so it’s up to date. As I write this, I just had an excellent question from an acquaintance in Tucson who wrote that she had bought my Punctuation for Writers a few years ago at a Society of Southwestern Authors (SSA) meeting and had found it useful. However, it had … Read more