• Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Second Story Finished

    OFF TO A DECENT START… Got the short story challenge going strong. Finished a second short story tonight. Also today went to the writer’s lunch and worked a bunch on workshop stuff. A good solid day and a lot of fun. ———- The Day… Got up to WMG by 2 p.m. for the writer’s lunch. Then around 4 Kris and I went for a walk. I only managed four miles today, which is fine as I ramp this back up. I got back to my office around 5:30 and worked there until almost eight on workshop stuff. Store and then home to cook dinner. Did some e-mail and more workshop…

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    A Workshop Night

    April Online Workshops… Everyone who is signed up should have gotten a letter from me tonight. If you are signed up and didn’t get the letter, write me. The April Online Workshops start on Tuesday and Wednesday and still lots of room to jump into any of them. It’s a good list this month. Any questions, feel free to write me. Information on each workshop under the Online Workshops tab at the top. And if you are confused as to which workshop to take first, we have a full curriculum posted on its own page. Class #31… Apr 4th … Writing Thrillers Class #32… Apr 4th … Point of View Class #33… Apr 4th…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Collections and Workshops

    Short post tonight to keep my blogging streak alive on this Saturday night. Turned in two collections tonight, plus worked on the Strength workshops this afternoon and evening. I will try to remember to let you know when the collections are live. We will be another few weeks before we get the sixth Strengths workshop up. We are enjoying working on them and answering assignments. So far so good. If you want to take three you get the fourth one free and if you take all six you get a monthly online workshop free as well. Information about the Strength Workshops is at Strength Workshops

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    A Few More Strength Workshop Questions Answered

    Been Getting Some Good Questions… So figured I would answer them here. Question: Do I have to start with Regular Craft or can I do Regular Business or Regular Sales strength workshop first? Answer: You can do any of the regular strength workshops you want first. Or just alone. A number have signed up only for the Regular Sales. — Question: Can I work on more than one workshop at the same time? Answer: Sure, you can do as many workshops at the same time as you want. So far this new method and Kris and I doing assignments as they come in hasn’t taxed us. In fact, it has…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Information Overload

    Brain Fried… I had a hunch that would happen tonight after almost four hours of talking writing and business of writing with 18 professional writers. Tonight it seemed to all focus on marketing and discoverability. Wow, just wow. So instead of trying to talk about something intelligent, figured I would clean up some business and answer some questions. Thanks Everyone Who Bought the Bundle. Turned out to be a good one and the charity made some nice money as well. So thanks. Questions Answered On Strength Workshops — I want to repeat that there is no hurry at all in taking the workshops. You can work on them at your…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    A Giant Ape Kind of Day

    How was that for a silly blog title?… But that’s what it sort of was, actually. Kris and I decided we needed a day doing something different. Can’t call it a day off when our job is having fun writing and playing in publishing. But we do need to do something different at times. So we drove into the valley and saw King Kong: Skull Island. Fun. Exactly as expected. I ate too much popcorn. Then we had a nice dinner, found a good pie shop for pie, then headed home after walking around a big discount store for a time to make sure we had our steps. When we…

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Strengths Workshop Starting Up!!!

    We All Wonder How We Are Doing… Now is your chance to find out. Kris and I are doing the Strengths Workshop again after almost two years. We are doing it differently this time. More intense (if that is possible) and more focused so we can give each person better help. THE POINT… Strengths Workshop is to help you understand in story craft, business, and sales where you are at at this moment in time. We will tell you where you are strong and where you need to work. And we will give you help on how to find ways to improve in each area. We will do this in…

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Full Workshop Update

    ONLINE WORKSHOPS… The letters for those taking an online class in February have gone out. If you are signed up for a February online workshop and didn’t get the first preliminary letter, e-mail me off list. Of the February classes, a couple are close to filling. Point of View, Mystery, Speed, Teams, and Writing Secondary Plot lines all have just one spot open each. They start on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest have two or three spots open. COAST WORKSHOPS… (2017 anthology workshop has all writing is done and everyone is reading. Science Fiction in April 2017 is full and everyone is reading.) — Mystery workshop in September 2017 has…

  • On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Two New Online Workshops Announced!

    TWO NEW ONLINE WORKSHOPS ANNOUNCED… That’s right, not one but two. Writing Endings will start in January and Writing Secondary Plot Lines will start in February. And above this is the announcement for a special on online workshops because so many people missed the Kickstarter we did a few months back. It’s a one week special, so don’t miss it. We won’t do anything like it again until the next Kickstarter campaign two years from now. Besides that, the online workshop schedule is posted now for December through May to help with planning into the new year. You can sign up for any of the workshops on the list at any…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    Point of View

    Point of View… I’ve been having a really fun discussion about point of view with a writer who took the new point of view online workshop in October. We have been talking about how there is no omniscient in fiction writing and how summary openings that feel omniscient have viewpoint, both author and character, often combined. For me, putting the point of view online workshop together was really fun. I was able to get past the basics in the first week and really start working on other deeper skills with writers. The point of the POV workshop was to not only give writers new tools, but make writers aware of the…