• Challenge,  On Writing

    Step One: Getting Ready for the New Year…

    Looking Back (for only a moment)… Step one of planning ahead is to spend just a little time looking back at the past year, see how you did, how the actual production matched up to your goals last January. Right now it is still a number of days before Christmas, but I want to get this step out of the way and really start working on the new year’s goals and focus. I want to turn my attention forward. But first I have to look back for just a moment. I know, without even looking hard, that my year sucked by my standards. It started off with me dealing with…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff

    31 Years Married!

    Sickness and Health Tends to Go In Waves… This last year was my turn to have issues, from being mostly blind for three months to smashing my shoulder while running too fast and getting a Titanium replacement. Kris had the duty of taking care of so much more than normal this year. So thanks, Kris for the great 31 years of marriage so far (even though we celebrate when we met in May which will be 38 years), I want to remember that great wedding day on the top of the hill on our tree farm, us bundled in our ski parkas. We got married amid the uncut Christmas trees…

  • Challenge,  publishing,  Pulphouse Fiction Magazine

    Still Working Out the Kinks…

    New Issue of Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Published… With the wrong cover. Oops… In the holiday issue, #24, I really wanted to feature Annie Reed’s fantastic new holiday story. We do that feature by using big header on the cover. (see the correct cover below) But the first cover without that feature got put on instead and sent out. And even loaded up to our store. Now understand, we just went monthly and then a few weeks into that, I broke my shoulder and couldn’t be of much help. But the October, November, and now the December issue made it out. And January issue is on time. So going monthly is…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Bringing Forward. FAILURE MUST BE AN OPTION

    A Series of Posts to Get Ready for the New Year… (I first did a version of this post in 2012, then brought it forward and updated it for 2014, and  updated again in 2017, and here it is as part of this year-end flurry of posts to help get ready for 2024.) I’ll bet a few of you got very uneasy by me starting off a blog post with: “Failure Must Be An Option.” This post is about how to move forward with your writing. And to do that, you must fail, over and over to become an artist in this business and to just survive. And that’s normal and perfectly…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Beautiful Trophy Challenge Is Back!!!

    Last Day to Sign Up for Kris Sprint Challenge. Starts tomorrow. The challenge is to write as many consumable words from Monday, December 18th through December 31st 2023 as Kris writes. What are “consumable” words? — Any fiction of any type (no requirement to publish during the challenge time) Rewriting does not count. Only the final publishable words. — Any nonfiction that others will consume such as blogs, introductions to collections things like that. You can NOT count emails and comments on Facebook and other social media or comments on blogs. They do NOT count. No genre limitations. Rules 1… Every day Kris will send a letter through the class…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Two Days To Get Into the Challenge with Kris!

    A Two-Week Writing Challenge With Kris! Just two days left to join. Starts Monday morning sign-ups cut off at that point. The challenge is to write as many consumable words from Monday, December 18th through December 31st 2023 as Kris writes. What are “consumable” words? — Any fiction of any type (no requirement to publish during the challenge time) — Any nonfiction that others will consume such as blogs, introductions to collections things like that. You can NOT count emails and comments on Facebook and other social media or comments on blogs. They do NOT count. No genre limitations. Rules 1… Every day Kris will send a letter through the…

  • Challenge,  workshops

    In Person Workshops! And Cat Picture!

    Two Vegas Workshops Scheduled At the Moment! The craft class for Science Fiction Mystery in January and then the Anthology Workshop in July. The craft class is taught by Kris and is fun and difficult at the same time. The craft class has a Study Along on Teachable and if you are going to join it, do it soon because it has a reading list. And if you want to come to Las Vegas for the craft class, there is one spot open and still time to jump in. Write me for details if interested. The Anthology Workshop is in July at Resorts World (you never go outside). Exact dates…

  • Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign

    Last Day of NEVER BEFORE SEEN Kickstarter!

    Fun Kickstarter of Six Original Kris Mysteries… Today is the last day! Kris tends to write a lot of mystery stories and sometimes she just doesn’t get them out, which allows WMG to do this really fun Kickstarter. Two novellas, two novelettes, and two short stories. All original. Never Before Seen link. And trust me, the six stories are all great!  Get the electronic editions of these six original never-before-seen mysteries by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. –Olivia’s House –Stealth Bloggers –The Viral Video Guy –Morning Shift –Every Little Thing –Take Your Daughter to Work Day All six are given with every other reward, so you will get these six great stories…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    To Be Clear On A Couple of Things…

    I Got Questions From Writers… In the Sprint Writing challenge with Kris, yes she will report in to those in the challenge every day about what her writing day was like and how much she got done. SHE NEVER DOES THIS NORMALLY!! I live with her and I don’t have a clue what happens in that office when she is writing. So this is stunning and should be a real learning experience for all of us. If you are not in the challenge, there is no way to get these reports or even how many words she wrote. If you are in the challenge, you only report in once to…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Sprint to the New Year With Kris!

    A Two-Week Writing Challenge With Kris! The challenge is to write as many consumable words from Monday, December 18th through December 31st 2023 as Kris writes. What are “consumable” words? — Any fiction of any type (no requirement to publish during the challenge time) — Any nonfiction that others will consume such as blogs, introductions to collections things like that. You can NOT count emails and comments on Facebook and other social media or comments on blogs. They do NOT count. No genre limitations. Rules 1… Every day Kris will send a letter through the class email system to just those in the challenge talking about the words she wrote…