Both Have Been On My Wall For Decades… And they were on my office walls before that. So when we moved this last spring and early summer, I took the two sayings down and brought them with me for my new office. So what kind of sayings would I carry with me for so many decades? Almost since I started writing. The first, framed in a cheap mat and dirty and faded says simply… “If we could dare to write as ill as those whose voices haunt us still…” That is part of an Edward Gosse poem written way back and the poem is in the public domain. But think…

Finally Got a Dean-Level Insane Question… On the novel and short story challenge starting in September. You know the one, write thirty short stories in sixty days or write three novels in three months. The challenge that is almost full. Someone asked me today if they could do both at the same time. I LOVE THAT! My level of nuts challenge. And, of course, I said sure. And I offered the person a discount if they wanted to try it. Second challenge at half price (still get two workshops).  Both challenges for $900 and get four workshops. Why did I love that question? That is exactly the question I would…

But I Made Learning The Most Important Thing… I got a comment from a person in a letter after my post about going and learning from long-time professionals. It was a passing comment this person and not made in any way bad. But it sent me laughing. The comment was basically “Good thing you had money.” The reference was to my early days in writing and me having money in those days was so far from the truth as to be on another planet. I had no money. None. Let me give you a few stories. I went to my first convention in 1982 and shared a ride with three…

SF Plot Twist Bundle… Two Days Left…. My sf novel, Laying the Music to Rest, is in a nifty bundle with some amazing writers. Don’t delay grabbing this one. Some amazing stuff in this bundle and I am honored to be a part of it. But now it is almost over. Trust me, folks, if you are not familiar with Annie Reed, Robert Jeschonek, Blaze Ward, Ron Collins, Stefon Mears, and Eric Kent Edstrom, this is your chance. I don’t often recommend other writers, as most of you know, but I recommend all six of these incredible talents and buy their stories regularly for Pulphouse as well. And you get…

Writers’ Communities… I keep hearing over and over about how other writers force writers to do something like get a book doctor or rewrite or whatever. This advice (99.9% of the time) is coming from beginning or unpublished writers. But these writers feel forced, like there is a gun to their head because it is their “community.” For some reason I mostly escaped this silliness when I was coming in. My mantra was always to learn only from those who were farther down the road than I was by a long ways. I wanted to learn from those writers making a living, having long careers, and so on. I sought…

Got Some Interesting Questions This Week… So I figured for fun here on this fine evening I would just lay out in very quick points exactly what I believe about writing and how I write. Clear up some confusion (or make more, we shall see. (grin)) 1… I do not rewrite. I cycle back and forward through the manuscript as I write, thus ending up with a clean first (and final) draft. 2… I do not use ideas and haven’t for decades. I use triggers to get me typing with a character and I just entertain myself from there. (You guys have all followed that here through some of my…