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Reading Stories
Not Doing Much Writing Yet… Typical slow start to my year. Only years I didn’t have a slow start were years I ramped up for two weeks in December. No idea why. Always seems logical at the time. But I am getting a lot of reading of Pulphouse stories done. I want to have them all done before this HEARTS COLLIDE Kickstarter finishes because I hope we hit a few stretch goals and I have more stories to read for Pulphouse. (see stretch goals in the campaign) And yes, I am finding some stories to buy from the reading. Here is how my enjoyment levels and frustration go with the…
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Working on the Challenges from Last Year…
Yes, I am slow… Mostly because things like not even getting into this office until after eight this evening. PT and doctors can really suck up a day. (grin) So I am reading the stories for Pulphouse and also alternating with doing the letters to get everyone credit for last year’s challenges. And we have an in person workshop starting here on Monday (with the Study Along) and also doing some work on the anthology workshop next July. Less than ten spots open for that. Filling quickly. Write me for information. Still don’t have an exact week but we hope by the first of February. It will be in July.…
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Shared World and Directed Study
Both Directed Study and Shared World Now Available… First, Shared World… The shared world in the second class is for THE SILVER LADY, a hotel and casino just outside of Vegas. There will be two initial volumes set in THE SILVER LADY. One mystery volume of mysteries set there and one ghost stories. It is a nine week class starting on January 22nd. Yes, it will have assignments. And yes, we will give plenty of time to write for the two anthologies. You can still sign up for the first class and go through it at your own speed and write for the two new Cave Creek anthologies coming later…
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HEARTS COLLIDE Kickstarter is Live!!
100 Strange Romance Short Stories… Half from Kris, half from Dean. These are all genres, but all have the underlying theme of romance in one form or another. All are strange, as is typical of Dean and Kris’s writing. Plus you can get previous year’s anthologies or all 420 stories if you want. Plus a ton of other reading and two very special workshops for writers. HEARTS COLLIDE Make 100 Kickstarter. Check it out. (ADDED NOTE… We funded in just over an hour and as I type this are well on the way to the first stretch goal.) Watch the video of me and Kris. (might have to click twice…
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HEARTS COLLIDE Kickstarter
Launches at Noon on Tuesday!! Five Volumes of 100 short stories, half by Kris, half by me. We are calling these stories our “strange romances” because trust me, they are not regular romances. And you all know me, I write across genres, so these are science fiction, fantasy, mystery and so on, all with a romantic element. It’s the romantic element in all 100 stories that hold these volumes together. This is the fourth year of Kris and I doing these 100 story volumes for the Make 100 promotion in Kickstarter. And just as with the three years before, we have some great fun stuff with this one. In fact,…
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Details on Second Shared World Class…
I Didn’t Get To All This In Yesterday’s Post… The shared world in the second class is for THE SILVER LADY, a hotel and casino just outside of Vegas. There will be two initial volumes set in THE SILVER LADY. One mystery volume of mysteries set there and one ghost stories. How long is the second class? Nine weeks with eight assignments along the way, plus the two stories if you want to write them after it is over. (Deadlines for stories will work around other deadlines.) When will the second shared world class start? In two weeks on January 23rd. Do you have to have taken the first one…
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A Second Shared World Class
SHARED WORLDS: Part One and Now Part Two What Are Shared Worlds, How to Do Them, and Why? Part Two… More Information and Advanced! For years now, Kris and I have tried to figure out how to teach shared worlds as a topic to writers to get the most benefit for writers. Both of us have written in so many shared worlds, we couldn’t begin to count. From the major shared worlds of Star Trek and Star Wars, to the more subtle shared worlds of say the WMG Holiday Spectacular. And everything in between. There are thousands of reasons indie writers and publishers would want to set up one form…
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Don’t Panic Or Give Up…
Just Because the Year is Starting Off Slow… Sometimes, this time after the first of the year can be rough. Job issues, family, travel, and a ton of other stuff. And even though you wanted to get off to a fast start, you didn’t. I sure didn’t this year. Annoying for sure. But no big deal. Let me show you some math on why it isn’t a big deal. Say your goal for 2024 is to write a half million words. An average of 1,370 words per day. If you write 1,000 finished words per hour, about 1.3 hours a day or 9 hours a week on your writing. (That’s…
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Slow Start With The Writing…
Typical For Me… I usually start slow and then just gain speed. Clearly going to be the case this time as well. First off, I just didn’t clear the decks fast enough to get to my writing computer early enough each night. And when I did, tired of being at any computer, so time there did not last that long. Second, starting a book in a series that I had not even thought about in years, so had to take some time to put it back in my head and create some notes. Not for the plot, just what the characters look like and so on. Third, I am still…
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Workshops Starting…
Today Last Day To Join Challenges… A bunch of workshops started today that seemed to have gotten lost in the shuffle of the challenges. And a couple will start next Tuesday. Shopify Part Two and the Kickstarter Special Workshop will start next week. Those in the Kickstarter special class, expect a letter from me this weekend. The January Regular Workshops just started today. #4… Jan 2nd… Writing into the Dark #5… Jan 2nd… Teams in Fiction #6…Jan 3rd… Writing with Depth (start with this one) #8…Jan 3rd… Killing the Critical Voice #10…Jan 3rd… Advanced Depth The two nine-week Advanced Craft classes just started. Advanced Dialog Advanced Pacing The two 52…