• Challenge,  On Writing

    Edmund Gosse Explains Things So Well

    From His Poem “Impression.” “Too much afraid of faults to be…” And that simple line from that incredible poem describes a great number of the writers I talk with every day. (You can read the entire poem here, published about writing in 1894. Worth the read. And if you could dare to write as ill as some whose voices haunt us still…) But that simple saying of being afraid of faults to be describes why so many writers don’t finish stories. And why so many don’t get their work out to readers or short fiction to editors. That saying a long time ago stopped making sense to me as a…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Up Early for an Outing Tomorrow

    With the Romance Workshop… Kris is taking the entire romance workshop on a field trip tomorrow. The mystery workshop in May went to the Mob Museum and this group gets to go to the Springs Preserve, and I’m going along because I am a member there and love the place. So got to be up early for me, so nothing tonight except to say there are seven more videos posted in the Licensing Transition and sign-ups for that are still open if interested. And sign-ups for the two Great Challenges are also still open. Lost two more writers this week, so far. And I am caught up, basically, on my…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Romance Workshop Going On Here Now

    And I Am Recording Kris’s Lectures for the Study Along… I realized tonight how really good these Study Along workshops are. Kris does a ton of videos about books on her reading list, then assigns stories, and I record her lectures from my point of view on a topic. And if you are taking the Study Along, you can turn in a story by the deadline and I will read it. First assignment of the Romance Workshop Study Along I ended up with 12 stories I will be reading over the next day or so. And just tonight I gave out story assignment #2. And the best deal is the…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    The Math

    Of Indie vs Traditional… You always know when I am going to do math, it will not be pretty. But a number of things happened in the last week that I figured it was time. First off, dealing with that myth of it costing so much to do an indie book. And second today a viral post from a traditional writer who got six figure deals and was whining that no one told her what would really happen (even though I am 100% sure she would have never listened.) So with those two in mind, let’s play a math game. With other important factors involved. Now you can be angry…

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Science Fiction Study Along Craft Workshop

    A Reminder… I will be starting up the email group tomorrow for those attending the Science Fiction Craft Workshop here in Las Vegas in January.  The workshop is taught by Hugo Award winning editor and writer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch. But if you can’t make it to Las Vegas, the best way to take the class is on Teachable with the Science Fiction Study Along Craft Workshop. The workshop is January 24th – 28th, but the reason this is starting up so early is that there is a reading list and Kris wants everyone to have enough time to read everything she assigns. Both those coming to Las Vegas and those…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    Still Four Spots Open

    Business Master Class… I have spent a number of hours today getting things organized, seeing what I had missed, that sort of thing and I discovered, much to my surprise, that we still have four spots open. In fact, I was sort of shocked. I am so excited about this coming Business Master Class that starts October 25th that I sort of felt (without checking) that it had filled up. Kris and I spent some time on a conference call a few days ago with Deidre from the Global Licensing Group about what she will be talking about and some of the sessions she will be doing. I got finished…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Myth Lectures Now Available…

    Posted the Last Two Myth Lectures… … In the Roadblocks Bundle of five lectures. The last two are on the myths of Productivity and Quality. Nasty myths, deadly to most writers. There are five lectures on myths in the bundle, five in the first bundle, and there will be two more bundles of five each coming over the next week or so. Best way to get them all is get a lifetime subscription to the lectures. Grab them on Teachable. Trust me, they might save you a lot of years and grief.  

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Forgot To Mention

    All Short Stories Are Read for the Challenge… I am finally back up to date to this week. Really fun reading, to be honest. Sadly, numbers of writers have now dropped out and I only have five novels to read for the novel challenge, which I will be doing this next week. So both the Great Challenge for a short story per week and the Great Novel Challenge for a new novel every two months has lots of open spots. Come on folks, keep me reading. I really do enjoy it. Even when I get behind due to other things, it was a blast focusing on reading and getting caught…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Ask Kris Anything

    Quick Notice… Kris still has seven months that she will be doing an hour-long live webinar where you can ask her questions about anything from publishing, licensing, to cats. On Teachable it is called “Ask Kris Anything” and the six month still is open for one more week for those interested to sign up. The next webinar is this Sunday, the 15th at 11 am West Coast USA time. We will shut sign-ups for this off after this coming week and those signed up will be on board until the last one in March. So last week to jump on board on this one.

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    New Pop-Up…You’re Stuck!

    Now What? That’s what Pop-Up #15 is about, helping you get unstuck and learn to not only get to the writing, but how to finish things when you are writing. All of us get stuck at one point or another. This is the help with that. And it has a nifty story prompt with it as well. It is up and available now, and in both the 11-20 bundle and the 11-15 bundle. BUT WE ARE OFFERING SOMETHING SPECIAL… Thank you, everyone, for making the Pulphouse Subscription Drive a wild success. It will be two weeks now before Kickstarter releases everything and we can get started. And to our surprise,…