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Katy Perry
Kris and I Went to Her Show Tonight… Katy Perry has had a residency at the Resorts World Hotel and Casino here in Vegas for the last two years. It is called “Play.” And it is a whacked out version of Toy Story combined with Pee Wee Herman’s Playhouse, twisted a couple dozen more times and then put on steroids. For the entire first two acts I sat with my mouth open in shock and awe at the writing and the over-the-top everything. And the background animation and the between-acts animated transitions were just stunning and clear. Sometimes the animation in the back screens I could not tell if it…
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Two Mentor Spots Open
Been a Year Since I Opened This To Three Writers… Since a number of the writers I was helping in this program from years ago are not writing me as often, I decided to open this back up again for two spots. I really enjoy working closely with writers over the years, but I don’t push myself on them. I am just there to help, answer questions, and point in a certain direction. Often my weekly responses are fairly short if things are going well for the writer. Sometimes I give my kind of advice. (grin) I want each writer to be the writer they want to be. And I…
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Welcome Back!
Time of Great Forgetting Almost Over… So many writers (very few full professionals, but a ton of early professionals) just check out of writing and publishing starting in April and sort of return to writing and publishing in middle-to-late July. Now it has logical reasons. Spring and good weather, family vacations, a ton of other things around the house that just need to be done right now. So all the great intentions of writers in January are just sort of forgotten in April. Also, for early stage writers, the writing and publishing have not hit a level of importance yet to either them, or their family, to push them through.…
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Pulp Speed Post Forward Again…
Been Over Two Years… A number of writers over the last six months have asked me to bring forward the old explanation of Pulp Speed in writing. So here it is… (I wrote this post around 2014, then brought it forward to 2016, then 2017, and just about every year or so since, skipping 2022.) Not at all sure why this idea of writing at Pulp Speed sort of hits me right. I think because it flies in the face of all the myths. A writer has to have all myths and critical voice under control to even attempt Pulp Speed One. So this post might just make you angry…
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What is Up To Speed?
A Good Question… I have said in a number of my reports lately that after all the issues with the eyes over the winter, I am now climbing back up to speed, starting slowly in April and adding a little bit each week. But what is my speed that I am trying to get back to? Let me do the math to explain it. Fact one… I write about 1,000 words an hour with a break. Fact two… I only count consumable words, such as fiction I finish (I finish everything) and nonfiction that will go to a wide audience such as an introduction to a book or this blog.…
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Smith’s Monthly
Ten Years Ago… Yes, one fine day in 2013 right about this time of the year, Kris and I were headed into Salem, OR from the coast to have dinner and see a movie. I had been noodling on ideas to get myself back really writing after spending most of the year before dealing with my friend’s estate, and then not really writing that much in the last half of 2012 and the early part of 2013. I needed something to get me focused. Earlier that day, while in my office, I had been sorting out my digest fiction magazine collection and came across some Mike Shayne issues. It was…
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Pen Names…
Some More On Pen Names… A friend wrote me and pointed out that I was a little harsh on not needing pen names in the indie world in a recent post. He reminded me that there are many reasons to use pen names, something I know and tell people all the time. Reasons to use pen names in indie… You write erotica and other stuff. Keep the erotica under a pen name. You are a doctor or some such thing in real life and don’t want the fact that you write fiction out to your clients. You work in law enforcement or law and write mystery or crime or thriller.…
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Zero-Sum Game
Publishing is NOT a Zero-Sum Game A zero-sum game comes out of game theory and basically means that when one person wins, another must lose. Writing and publishing does not work that way. There is not a finite number of readers who can read one book a year or a finite number of readers who read fifty books a year and everything in between. And readers come into genres, read for a while, and then go away, or new readers every year are grown and others die. A niche explodes, a niche dies. Nature process of reader’s tastes. No one book in the history of the world has reached every…
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Excuses…
Wow Can Writers Make Excuses to Not Write… Of course, those who have taken the Killing the Critical Voice workshop we offer every month know that if something you have made up in your head is keeping you from writing, that is critical voice winning. Critical Voice has one job, and that is to stop you from writing. Creative Voice is always positive. Critical Voice is always negative. So for some reason lately, I have been hearing some amazing excuses to not write. Now granted, we all have health and family issues that stop the writing. Those are not excuses. Those are reality and we come back to writing when…
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Paying Attention Sale
Holiday Here In the States… The holiday here is called Memorial Day which honors those who served in the military and also family members who are no longer with us. And it is a time where people take vacations since it is a three-day weekend, or they spend time with their families in picnics or other activities. Experts also say that today is supposed to be the busiest travel day of the year as well. And for writers, this tends to be the first major weekend of the Time of Great Forgetting. Writers just forget about writing and learning and publishing and often don’t come back to paying attention until…