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New Poker Boy Story…
Published Today… Monday… In the WMG 2020 Holiday Spectacular. That’s right my story “Hidden Box Inn and Casino” is the Monday, December 14th story in the Spectacular. It’s a Poker Boy story and the newest. And it’s a holiday story, but not what you would think of as a normal holiday story. After all, it is Poker Boy. Here is what Kris said in the introduction to my story. (She writes an introduction to every story.) Hidden Box Inn and Casino by Dean Wesley Smith Genre/Mood: Light and fun fantasy After one of our bleakest stories, here’s one of our most fun stories. Dean Wesley Smith is a co-mastermind of…
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An Idea For Balance for the New Year…
Combining Challenges… This is sort of a simple idea, but it has some catches to it. A lot of writers I know are setting writing goals for the new year. And publishing goals as well. I have my publishing goal half set, my writing not so much. And I have been focusing on exercise and on losing a few more pounds. (How cliche is that for a New Year’s goal?) So need goals there as well. So here is how I have been looking at each segment. Time. Exercise… I want to get back to 10,000 steps a day streak. For me that’s five miles. One to two miles are…
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Year of Changes…
Now Looking at A Year of Doing… This last year has been hard, to say the least, on most people. And we are not done yet. Not by a ways, even with the good news today of a vaccine being approved in Great Britain, Canada, and today in the States. We have a long three or four months ahead of us before this even begins to turn around, especially with the non-mask wearers and their stupidity here in the States. For most of this last year it was impossible to try to plan anything. The Licensing Class we have going we just added a year. And supposedly now the Licensing…
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Five Story Collections
A Brand New Series of Classes… Okay, this is not official yet, but here is what Kris and I are thinking for the Collection Class Series. This is the really fun idea that has popped up a bunch of times since the summer. This would not be part of the regular workshop classes or subscription, but something very different and you will see why. But the upshot is that by the end of the class, you will have published a five-story collection you didn’t have going into the class. Here is. the structure of each class in general. A nine week class. (Yes, I said nine weeks.) And each week…
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Time to Look Ahead…
And We Can!!! Finally, the end of this year is in site, a vaccine is in sight, and here in the States a new government is in site. So it is the 7th of December and time to slowly start making plans for the new year. Writing plans, business plans, exercise plans that were almost impossible to make four months (or even two months) ago. On exercise, since I finished the marathon, I overate and gave my feet time to heal, so gained five pounds. Winter/holiday weight I am sure, but going to drop it back off plus more after the holiday. So I am in the process of setting…
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Want Someone to Do It For Me…
I’ve Run Into This Lately A Few Times… Some writers are dead set on going to traditional publishing because they want someone to do the work for them. They believe their job starts and stops with writing. And back in 1990, that was the case. You wrote and the publisher published. Writers had no control at all and honestly in 1990 should not have asked for it or tried to get it. But that was thirty years ago. Writers now control everything, but beginning writers still come into writing wanting someone to do all the work for them. I’ve been trying to figure out why, since indie publishing is so…
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Get Good Cheer Holiday Bundle…
Really Excited About This Bundle of Books from Storybundle.com… I think this is an amazingly special bundle of holiday stories of all kinds and types. Perfect reading for this holiday season in so many ways. And one of the coolest things in this bundle is a book that explains the importances and contains all of The Santa Claus Stories by L. Frank Baum. Yes, the Wizard of OZ L. Frank Baum. With all his Santa Claus stories, he helped cement the images and traits we take for granted now for Santa Claus. And now, for the first time ever, they are gathered together and reprinted in one book, WITH ALL…
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December Workshops Have Started
Almost Forgot… Things have been so crazy this month (for everyone I bet), I almost forgot to post here that all the December regular workshops have started. Yes, it is December!!! I am moving the Licensing 101 to Classic in the next month or two, but past that, nothing new yet. (The new workshop is the special workshop that you had to sign up for through the last Kickstarter.) List of December workshops below. However, I am in the process of posting the January workshops and then will update all the schedules in the next few days into March. Got some slots for some new workshops that will be announced…
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Finding Stories
Not to Write… But Already Written… When you are as prolific as I am, and combine that with just enjoying the writing, not caring about the publishing that much, you end up with strange things happening. I know that those writers who think everything they write is golden have trouble understanding this concept, but I flat lose stories. Smith’s Monthly Magazine, when I started it, was supposed to be a place where I could slowly, over years, gather all my stories together, one novel and four or five short stories per issue. And I did that for 44 issues just fine until life roles stopped the process. Now I am…
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I Have Books In Three Bundles…
At The Same Time… This Never Happens… I am usually happy to be in a bundle every three months or so. So folks, if you want to get some amazing reading by other authors, and get four of my books, (And four of Kris’s books) now is the time to grab all three bundles. A couple of them are vanishing fairly soon, so don’t miss them. Here are descriptions and pictures and links of all three bundles. In the www.StoryBundle.com/Crime I have a Cold Poker Gang novel BAD BEAT, and I have a collection of best crime stories from Pulphouse Magazine that I edited called Twist of a Knife. Plus…