• Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    If I Owe You A Letter

    In the Last Three Days, Hold On…  I will get caught up today. No problem, I’m just taking some breaks and doing other things. Also about to do some videos in the Decade Ahead class and more cat videos. So next week check those out if you are in them. Again, the Decades Ahead will go through all of 2021 now. No chance in hell any of us can plan while swirling in this mess. The key with all this is just get your head down and keep writing. And make sure you vote. Horror and Historical-focused Science Fiction special workshops are starting on Tuesday. And Making Money with Your…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Henry Kuttner

    One of My Major Influences… Not so much for his writing, but for Kuttner’s ability to write a lot of stories. And his partnership and marriage to C.L. Moore. Henry Kuttner died in 1958 at the very young age of 43, so I never had the pleasure of meeting him. Or C.L. Moore for that matter, mostly because she stopped writing and left the field in 1963. But she was maybe the most important of the early women writers in science fiction. Kuttner (and Kuttner and Moore together) did well over 300 short stories and a ton of novels, publishing under more than a dozen major pen names, plus their…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Dare To Be Bad

    A Great Catch Phrase… Following is a post I wrote almost exactly ten years ago. Very little has remained the same in publishing in ten years, and especially through this pandemic, but I figured it would be a good time to bring this forward, touch it up a little bit. Many of you have heard me talk about this concept, and it is an amazingly freeing thing when applied. And my gut sense is that this would be a good Pop-Up topic to really dig into it for those who might need this. Anyway, here is the original post from ten years ago. Dare To Be Bad Kevin J. Anderson…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    Last Day for Horror Workshop

    Less Than 24 Hours Before You Miss the Chance… Kris and I are excited to be doing this special How to Write Horror (or Obsession or Dark Fantasy) Story workshop.  But the only place you can sign up for this special three week workshop is through a Kickstarter campaign that is about to end. It is an Kickstarter campaign called Feed the Obsession by Mark Leslie that has just 24 hours left and is doing great. It hit it’s first stretch goal where everyone gets yet another major collection of stories. Kris and I both have stories in the book, as well as a lot of other professional writers. It…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Reading Stories All Day

    A Lot of Great Fantasy Stories… Today (Tuesday) is the last day of the Fantasy Study Along workshop that has been going on since Friday. Lots and lots of great fantasy stories in the three assignments. I have no doubt we will see a bunch of those in major magazines in the next year or two. Kris and I both read for long periods today, and it is now 2 am and I am just finished reading. And doing all the weekly regular assignments, like the Covers 101 workshop that is new this month. I still have stories to read for the Special Space Opera workshop, but those will have…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    Final Few Days…

    To Jump Into a Brand New Workshop… There is an amazing Kickstarter campaign called Feed the Obsession by Mark Leslie that has just a few days left and is doing great. It hit it’s first stretch goal where everyone gets yet another major collection of stories. Kris and I both have stories in the book, as well as a lot of other professional writers. It is going to be an amazing book. So Kris and I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do a special workshop to help the campaign out. A workshop we have been looking for a reason to do. It is a three-week…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    Feed the Obsession

    By Mark Leslie… This is an amazing Kickstarter campaign called Feed the Obsession that has just under a week left and is doing great. Over 200% funded and nearing it’s first stretch goal where everyone gets yet another major collection of stories. Kris and I both have stories in the book, as well as a lot of other professional writers. It is going to be an amazing book. So Kris and I thought it would be a great opportunity for us to do a special workshop to help the campaign out. A workshop we have been looking for a reason to do. It is a three-week workshop called How to…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Deadlines

    Got to Love Them… I wrote four short stories in the last week or so, got two more to do I found out today. Actually thought I only had one, but had missed one. And in a wonderful meeting (wonderful because everyone at WMG Publishing is healthy and our offices are still there), I got a number of other deadlines set. When focused, I work great to deadlines, and at the moment I am focused on writing and exercise. So I should be fine. My writing deadlines for the next month. (Yes, I do mean one month.) — Two new original short stories. — Introductions and author intros for Cat…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Special Workshop…

    Only Through A Kickstarter… A special three-week workshop through a very, very special Kickstarter campaign put on by great editor and writer, Mark Leslie for his Obsessions Anthology. Feed the Obsession Kickstarter campaign. Kris and I both have original stories in this anthology, along with some other fantastic writers. And since the object of this campaign is an anthology called Obsessions, we offered to do (just for the Kickstarter campaign) a special three-week workshop. Exclusive 3 Week Horror Fiction Workshop “How to Write an Obsession Story (That people want to read.)” Or “How to Write a Horror Short Story.” The reason this is exclusive is because you can only sign…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    A Few More Hours On The Half-Priced Sale

    Leaving the Coupon Code Active until Wednesday Evening… Since yesterday was a holiday here in the States, and today it seems like half of the West Coast is either covered in smoke, worried about fire, out of power, or all three, Kris and I figured we would let the code stay active until Wednesday evening. That way everyone had a chance to get a workshop or class that they wanted. The code to get anything on WMG Publishing’s Teachable is: EndOfSummer Those of you in the Space Opera Workshop, I mentioned on Week #2 you should look at the four Pop-Ups. Well, the codes were going to go out today,…