• Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Want To Be Challenged? I Am Doing It Again

    I Am That Crazy… I am going to do it again. I am offering to be a first reader for some of you. I am still just finishing up the reading for the short story challenge that ended yesterday and the writers are still working on novels until January 15th, but that means I will have time to read again starting January 1st. What a great way to be motivated starting the new year. The first two times I did this, the challenges turned out to be fun for me. And the writers who participated said it challenged them to get writing done they might not have gotten done without…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Three More Books Out

    My Challenge to Publish My Age… Today I had three books that count in my challenge all publish at the same time. The first one was Tombstone Canyon: A Thunder Mountain Novel.  It is not up yet on WMG Publishing Website, but it will be tomorrow. It should also be live on most sites by tomorrow as well. The paper will take another day or so. The second publication today is Pulphouse Issue Zero.  That should be out to all Kickstarter supporters in electronic. Paper editions will follow as soon as they get here. Third book out is Fiction River: Superpowers. I count it because my name is on the…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    A Day Picking, Exercising, and Watching A Movie

    Also Had a WMG Meeting… That was how the day started, with a WMG Meeting, then Kris and I managed to head into the valley and I dropped her off to watch a movie at a theater there and went picking. I spent exactly $73.10 for an entire trunk of stuff. My gut sense is we’ll sell or try to sell all of the stuff I found for just under a thousand. It might be more, depending on the brand names of some of the silk ties I got. You can get a lot of silk men’s ties for $1.19 a pound. And a ton of silk scarves. Plus a…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Going to End Up With Twelve

    Life Just Didn’t Allow For More… But honestly, I wanted 15, figured I would get 10, so I’m okay with 12. I’m going to be busy again tomorrow and then on the 30th I’m going to clear the decks for writing some novels in December. By the way, if I don’t write another short story in December, I will have written 50 short stories in 2017. Exactly what I needed for 12 issues of Smith’s Monthly. I did get Pulphouse Fiction Magazine Issue Zero formatted and it will be going out to all Kickstarter supporters and subscribers on Thursday. Amazing amounts of work. I still hadn’t started the assignments tonight…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Too Much Computer Time

    I Think I Could Have Written A Novel… Doing the formatting and layout of Issue Zero of Pulphouse is taking way, way longer than I expected. Mostly because it is the first time through. It will get easier with coming issues. Also I am doing it all to get the voice and attitude. Today I was at the computer almost all day, so my eyes are very tired and no time to do a short story tonight. I am pretty happy with the twelve stories so far, but hope to get done and rested enough to do a couple more before the 1st. But I got to take care of…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    STRENGTHS WORKSHOPS OPEN UNTIL DECEMBER 3rd

    These Have Been Shut Off For New Sign-ups Since May…. But they are back for sign-ups for only one week. If you ever wished a major professional writer would tell you what you are doing right and where you need work, now is your chance. And not just one, but two of us. Kris and I have been making our living in fiction and publishing now for over thirty years each. We have also started to mid-sized publishing companies over the years. And both of us have over twenty million copies of our books in print and have been on every major bestseller list. Kris and I will help you…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Pulphouse Layout Took Longer

    Issue Zero… I was still up at the WMG offices working on Issue Zero of Pulphouse after one a.m. for the second night in a row. Just too much strain on my eyes to not give them some rest after that. So no writing on a short story tonight. I started to, but after forty minutes I had a great novel start and I just tossed in the towel for the night. ANTHOLOGY WORKSHOP Folks, first anthology assignment is now out through the e-mail group. Happy writing.   My short story challenge so far since the 10th of the month. So far, here is the November Short Story Challenge. (10th…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Night Off Story. Working On Pulphouse

    Worked On Pulphouse Issue Zero… I was still up at the WMG offices working on Issue Zero of Pulphouse after one a.m. Came home then, watched a little television, and then wrote letters to everyone who backed the Pulphouse Kickstarter with a workshop or lecture. It’s a little after 6 a.m. right now and I just finished that. Issue Zero should be out by December 1st. It’s looking great. And some amazing stories in it. ANTHOLOGY WORKSHOP Folks, if you think you are attending the anthology workshop in late February and are not signed up through me and paid, or are not on the group list, you are almost too…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Another Thunder Mountain Story

    Two Thunder Mountain Stories in Two Days… Not at all sure why this challenge this time around I am doing stories in streaks. I did five Cold Poker Gang stories, then five Bryant Street stories (actually one was just a story), and now two Thunder Mountain stories. This one is called Profile Gap because I was looking through a book of place names for Idaho and found it and thought it was cool. Profile Gap is actually a fairly wide valley over a ridge in the central Idaho area. Lots of mining in the area, so a logical place for a Thunder Mountain story. Not sure if this one stands…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

    Challenge Travels Back In Time

    Yup, Wrote a Thunder Mountain Story… Hope those of you in the States had a good holiday. Kris and I had a perfect one for us this year, since we got really overwhelmed with people last month. We just made it a regular day. I cooked a turkey for our regular dinner time, and it was quiet. Wonderful. I spent hours up at WMG working on workshops and moving parts of the store around, then cooked dinner, then back up to WMG offices for two more hours of the same stuff. Then home to watch a little television, then I got in here after some email to write. Sadly, by…