• Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign,  workshops

    Internet Issues

    So One of These Blogs… Writing this  to load with the hot spot on my phone. Seems Tuesday night around midnight is a good time for the cable people to do work. Annoying. My eye is just about done with screen time for the day. Read a large number of great stories for the Thriller/Humor workshop, and did a lot of regular assignments for workshops and a ton of other stuff. So busy, but just about done. My eye is getting tired. So remember the Kickstarter has hit four stretch goals, which means three free Pop-Up classes on world building in science fiction. And more to come. And two really…

  • Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign,  On Writing,  publishing,  workshops

    RESCUE TWO KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN NOW LIVE!!!

    ALL KINDS OF GREAT STUFF!! Including a ton of different workshop stuff, and with every award you get a copy of my new Seeders novel RESCUE TWO. Rescue Two Kickstarter. The two special workshops are on science fiction. — WRITING IDEA FICTION Special Workshop. All the ins and outs of writing idea fiction and how to do it and how to come up with ideas. You can take it starting April 12 or May 3rd. And remember, this is the only place to get this workshop. — WRITING ABOUT TIME Special Workshop. All the ins and outs of writing about time while in space and how to do it and…

  • Challenge,  motivation,  On Writing,  publishing

    Challenges (Wrong Information Out There)

    Not Sure How This Information Got Spread… But I heard yesterday from a person who didn’t feel that spending $600 and then not being able to write on something a year in would be a good thing. And that they would lose their money like putting it in a slot machine. I wrote back and said that the challenges don’t cost anything. Yes, you spend the $600 to get into the mix. But if you miss, you get $600 in credits for anything on WMG Teachable except for another challenge. So in other words, you buy $600 in credits for any workshop or anything, and then get to have some…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    A Novel Happens

    Not Intended, but Creative Voice Won… As it should. Tonight got to the writing computer around 12:30 am. Typed in a title that had caught my eye. A STAR-FILLED NIGHT Started typing about a guy who met a woman outside the Titanic Exhibit at the Luxor here in Vegas. Story could have gone anywhere, but suddenly I found it solidly in the Thunder Mountain world. And at 1,300 words or so I wrote Chapter Two and said, “Shit!” Thankfully I didn’t wake Kris up clear off into the bedroom. My creative voice said, “This is the best idea for a Thunder Mountain Story, set on the Titanic, about the three…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Story Tonight Was Novella

    Seven Stories plus Transitions and Fillers… I spent all evening doing this, making sure information was not repeated too badly from story to story, lining it all up as 19 chapters, adding transition to keep the main story line moving through it all. Seven stories are the core. I wrote almost 3,000 new words tonight, more than equal to a short story. So counting this novella called BIG EYES as my story for the night. It will be the lead story in Smith’s Monthly #58 which will be on Patreon and out to subscribers in a week or so. Plus next week it will be part of a cat bundle.…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Tried Something New For Me…

    Flipped Viewpoints in a Story… Now, this would have been so much easier to just write a new story completely, but since I am doing this challenge, and I was in a spot that it made sense to do this stunt, I thought I would try it. My suggestion… Don’t. I had a Poker Boy story called “Mystery Cat” that also had in it Pakhet Jones. But it was a Poker Boy story, and Poker Boy is first person. I wrote it about two years ago or so and published it in Smith’s Monthly back about a year ago. Pakhat Jones stories are also first person. But in the Poker…

  • Challenge,  On Writing

    Finished a Short Novel

    Might Only Be a Novella Tonight I finished another Pakhet Jones story. Now basically I have written an entire larger story in six or seven short stories over the last month and a half. The one last night that I didn’t think stood up that well as a short story, only Kris said it did. Go figure, I’m only the author. I don’t know anything. And I mean that honestly when it comes to my own work. So tomorrow I am going to take all those stories and do the connecting tissue and a bunch more depth and see if it climbs solidly into novella length and maybe short novel…

  • Challenge,  Kickstarter Campaign,  On Writing

    Another Bryant Street Story Tonight

    Both Upbeat… Sort of… Kris read the Bryant Street story from last night and said, “Wow, an upbeat Bryant Street story. I actually hadn’t noticed that it was. It was just twisted like all Bryant Street stories are. And in fact, last night’s story you could just see Rod Serling standing off to one side of the garage saying… For your consideration, a man in a house he hates, a marriage that broke years ago, trying desperately to find a way out. Blocking his exit, an old car, left abandoned for years in a field, now full of  the twisted hopes and dreams that can only be found on Bryant…

  • Challenge,  workshops

    Last Day of the Workshop Sale

    Ends Late Tonight… Tuesday Night Everything on WMG Teachable is half price. Just hit purchase on what you want, then put in the code: YearEnd And you can get it for half price. Starting right now are the Regular January Workshops. February Regular Workshops are also available for the sale, but the January ones are starting right now. They are normally $300, but for the sale they are $150 with the code. They last six weeks and take about three hours a week at your own time. The dates are the starting dates. Start with Depth in Writing if you have not taken one before. Class #1… Jan 4th ……

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff,  On Writing,  publishing

    MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

    We Finally Pulled the Trigger… Motivational Mondays have been launched on Teachable and our now live. Kris and I have been talking and planning this for some time and we think it’s going to be great fun and very valuable for those getting it. Here is how it works: Every Monday on Teachable (actually Sunday night late so you can view them on Monday morning), Kris and I will put up at least three videos on some motivational topic or another concerning writing, publishing, and all the stuff around writing and publishing. See the partial list below of topics. The idea is to help writers stay on track, get unstuck,…