• Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Last Day

      Post Seven of Seven Days I’m finally back to work this evening, doing assignments and answering e-mails that got missed and things like that. So tomorrow night I’ll be back doing these regular blogs. Stay tuned. ——– February Online Workshops All of the February Online Workshops marked below have openings. Click the workshop tab above for description and sign-up or go to www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com. Each regular workshop is six weeks long and takes about 3-4 hours per week to do at your own pace and your own time. All workshops have openings. Class #11… Feb 1st … Advanced Depth Class #12… Feb 1st … Character Voice/Setting Class #13… Feb 1st … Adding Suspense to Your Writing Class #14……

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Day Six

      Post Six of Seven Days Fun day. It’s been a fun week. Back at normal tomorrow night. Actually looking forward to normal again. ANTHOLOGY WORKSHOP WRITERS!!!! If any of you turned in a story on some screwy e-mail provider such as Verizon or Microsoft or Comcast, I got the story fine but could not tell you I got it. Sorry. I’ll try to get one of my other e-mail providers who can talk to such providers to respond tomorrow. I won’t send the stories to the editors until tomorrow night (Monday night) to make sure I got everything. Second, new assignment will be sent out tomorrow night. So please don’t…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Day Five

      Post Five of Seven Days Still having far too much fun with old friends. Today watched football and just left a late dinner about thirty minutes ago. It’s four a.m. I’m still around here just fine, just not focused on the daily stuff at the moment. But answering e-mail and stuff without a problem I hope. (grin) ———- February Online Workshops All of the February Online Workshops marked below have openings. Click the workshop tab above for description and sign-up or go to www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com. Each regular workshop is six weeks long and takes about 3-4 hours per week to do at your own pace and your own time. All workshops have openings. Class…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Day Four

      Post Four of Seven Days Seems I needed rest more than writing short stories at the moment. I’m not going to do the daily details. I will return to that in a week. Hope everyone had a nice Friday night. I sure did. ———- February Online Workshops All of the February Online Workshops marked below have openings. Click the workshop tab above for description and sign-up or go to www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com. Each regular workshop is six weeks long and takes about 3-4 hours per week to do at your own pace and your own time. All workshops have openings. Class #11… Feb 1st … Advanced Depth Class #12… Feb 1st … Character Voice/Setting Class #13… Feb 1st…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Day Three

      Post Three of Seven Days The week of hanging around with friends from a previous life and focusing only on short fiction is going on and I’m enjoying the time in a different routine. Always a good idea to break out at times. So for one week I’m not going to do the daily details. I will return to that in a week. Story and Words Done This Week I managed, after two naps (resting is hard work) to actually get 1,100 words done on the story I started yesterday. I think I am getting rested so might finish the story tomorrow. No idea where it’s going but I…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Day Two

      Post Two of Seven Days I’m going to be spending a week hanging around with friends from a previous life and focusing only on short fiction. So for one week I’m not going to do the daily details. I will return to that in a week. Came up with a cool title for a story that I worked on for a time today between conversations with friends and far too much great food. “No One is From Here” Should be able to finish it tomorrow. Story and Words Done This Week Story #1… (not done yet) About 1,200 words so far. ———- February Online Workshops All of the February Online Workshops…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    A Week of Different Posts: Post One

      Post One of Seven Days I’m going to be spending a week hanging around with friends from a previous life and focusing only on short fiction. So for one week I’m not going to do the daily details. I will return to that in a week. I might or might do some topic of the night posts. I’ll see how that goes as well. I just wanted to break up things and take a break after this last few weeks of craziness. But my focus will be old friends and when they are not around, working on short stories and recharging from all the publishing craziness and year-end stuff…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Writing in Public

    More Stuff and Learning

      A DAY OF MORE STUFF AND LEARNING Monday errands, lots of workshop stuff, getting ready to do a lot of writing later in the week. ——- THE DAY Made it to the WMG publishing offices just before 3:30 p.m. and then headed out to do errands like banks, mail, and all that. Including fixing a tire that had a slow leak. Got back to WMG offices to work on workshops from 5:30 until 7 p.m. Home to cook dinner, then in here to do workshop stuff. Second day of the two months of workshops crossing over. Always a lot for me to do, especially when I am also running the ramp-up…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  Topic of the Night

    Topic of the Night: Starting Late

    I got a great comment from a gentleman on one of my older posts about starting late in life. Basically, what he said was that he felt behind starting at forty-five. His comment brought clearly back to mind how I felt for years about how I felt that I was starting very late at the age of thirty-two. (I had wasted seven years ahead of that writing almost nothing and rewriting everything to death. I hated that I had done that.) And I know that all of us, at one point or another have these sorts of thoughts. When indie publishing came in and Kris and I focused on it, I was…

  • Topic of the Night

    Topic of the Night: Lawrence Block’s New Writing Book

    Last night I went on about how writers need to focus on writing, but not forget about learning. One great way to learn is read how-to-write books and books about the industry. When learning, always go to learn from those a long ways ahead of you on the road you want to walk. Simple rule. And with publishing and writing books, you read it and take what makes sense to you and ignore the rest. Every writing book should be treated that way, including the ones I have written. Take what makes sense and leave the rest, but don’t give the book away. Put it on your shelf and in a year or…