• Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    The Great Challenge

    A New Writing Challenge… For the last few years I have done quarterly challenges that many people have enjoyed. And a lot of novels or stories have come out of those challenges that I enjoyed reading. So a new challenge, with a brand new form. One a little saner and a little crazier in the same breath. And again, the fee goes toward two workshop fees. Kris and I have been talking about this one for a while. Here are the basics… Every week, on Teachable, a new story prompt will appear. That prompt will be a video prompt that will be short, maybe with a writing tip with it,…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Just Finished… The Lonely Silver Rain

    By John D. MacDonald… It was the last Travis McGee novel, published a year before MacDonald’s death in 1986. I think I have read it six or seven times now over the years, always taken in by how MacDonald did Travis. I have typed in so many parts of those books, studying the style, the simpleness of it, yet how complex and clear he wrote. At some point I will try a character like Travis. Someday. In the meantime, I practice a lot of what MacDonald did on my Cold Poker Gang series. And speaking of that, the new Cold Poker Gang series book is nearing an end, I hope.…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  workshops

    One Week To April Workshops Starting

    I just Realized It Was Only A Week Away… Someone want to go find out where March ran off to? Wow. Just wow. And we are starting the Emotions in Writing workshop in one week as well. Got to have the Depth in Writing workshop to take that one. Overall, a great list of workshops in April, that’s for sure. I think all of them can really help a person’s fiction writing. Sign up directly at Teachable.com Class #31… Apr 2nd … Endings Class #32… Apr 2nd … Point of View Class #33… Apr 2nd … Writing Mysteries Class #34… Apr 2nd … Speed Class #35… Apr 2nd … Teams in Fiction Class #36……

  • On Writing,  publishing

    Do I Do This? Or That?

    The Dilemma of Focus and Choice… I got a hunch this will be very familiar to many, if not all of you. Right now, in this new life here in Las Vegas, I have been focusing first (and with a lot of attention) on ramping up brand new habits of writing. Writing in the mornings. I have talked about that and actually it is working so far. But it is taking a focus. And I noticed today that the focus on the writing has taken away the focus on the running and exercise. Now, I am still getting over 10,000 steps per day. So that level of exercise is still…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    ASK KRIS ANYTHING Webinar

    Announcing Something Brand New! Ask Kris Anything webinar is now available for sign-ups on Teachable. This might be one of the best ideas Kris has come up with outside her fiction. Listening to Kris answer your questions and other writer’s questions live for an hour every month for a year will be an amazing learning experience. Here are the details… Ask Kristine Kathryn Rusch Anything For one hour every month, Kris will answer questions live on a webinar.  Any type of question, any form of question.  Kris has been doing a weekly column on the business and life of publishing and fiction writing for a decade now. She has won…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Book Challenge Update

    Haven’t Missed a Day Writing… But have missed a couple of mornings. For example, I missed this morning going to the buffet for my writing sessions because I had an appointment with my audiologist at noon to get me to the next step with my new hearing aides. I am now supposed to wear them as much as possible, meaning all the time. My phone is now linked to them and I can answer the phone through them, and listen to music and news shows and you name it. Let me simply say, “Cool!” And in a crowded room, like at a table at a restaurant, I can put my…

  • On Writing,  publishing

    Want To Listen To Me Talk?

    I Was Interviewed… By the folks at the Alliance of Independent Authors at the London Book Fair had me talk about writing into the dark and other stuff. They cut out the interviewer, so it seems like I just go on and on, which I tend to do at times. (grin) Take a look. Might be worth a few details for the time spent listening. And I forgot to mention, this is a video interview. https://selfpublishingadviceconference.com/how-to-write-a-novel/ or this link might get you there as well. https://wp.me/p9MsJE-Oi  

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Eight Days In

    Going Fine… Afraid to say too much here early on because of the three misses last fall. But so far this new writing schedule is working as I had planned and hoped. I made it to the restaurant 5 of the last 8 days, and wrote every day some. Worst day was only 600 words, best days over 3,000. But my focus is now back on writing every day and that feels wonderful. After eight days, the novel is at just over 15,000 words, so not averaging 2,000 words a day as I wanted, but close and I’ll take it in start-up with new schedule. I have written some almost…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Challenge Is On (Again)

    Here Are The Rules of My Challenge… Some of you might remember I wanted to do 10 books in 100 days. And I set that challenge in September in an effort to ramp back up my writing after finally getting moved to Las Vegas. Total failure to even start. Reset again in late October, failure again. Lots of talk with Kris. Lots of puzzlement as to why I couldn’t make the time to write. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I did. Just turned out each day I didn’t for a host of reasons. About that point in late November I realized the problem and how deep it was.…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Depth As Hearing

    Kris and I Had a Great Discussion About Depth Today… All because I was getting fitted with nifty, programmed hearing aides. Why that discussion? Because for the first time in a long time, maybe decades, I could hear certain things. Things I didn’t even know I wasn’t hearing. And that lead to the discussion about depth in writing in all its forms. Some writers had trouble with it in this last workshop and that was because they didn’t even know they were missing it. I didn’t know I was missing sounds. I just knew I had trouble hearing at times, not that a massive range of sounds were not available…