Most of the reading I did in these two months was in preparation for Kris Rusch’s Mystery Writing workshop. As a result, most of these recommendations come from that genre. Bruen, Ken, The Guards, St. Martins Minotaur, 2003. Not only had I never read Bruen before, I’d never even heard of him. This book, however, was part […]
The Death of Dreams by Half-inches
The latest installment in Kris Rusch’s Freelancer’s Survival Guide hit me like a roundhouse left hook out of nowhere. The next thing I knew, I was staring up from the canvas, seeing stars. Kris was writing about giving up on your dreams. Among the many great insights, one in particular delivered the most powerful blow. “…sometimes (often!) the […]
Strange New World
Like many other writers, I’m trying to make some sense of what the future holds for the publishing world as e-books become more and more important. If you haven’t sampled some of the thinking, check out these three sources for starters: Jon Konrath feeling a lot less concerned about piracy than I am Mike Stackpole, […]
John Wooden and Writing
This is about writing, not sports. Trust me. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden died last Friday at the age of 99. He left behind a number of quotes that transcend sports and I’d like to apply to writing. Let’s have a look. If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that […]
Don’t Be a Knucklehead
If you're a writer (or want to be one) and you're not always trying to learn, then you're a knucklehead.
A WORKshop
Some writers’ workshops are thinly disguised vacations. (I’ve avoided them.) Then there are the Workshops run by Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith. They’re held out on the beautiful Oregon coast, but in most cases you don’t get much, if any, time to enjoy the pounding surf and other enticements. You’re there to work on the […]
Finally Connected
Now that I finallyhave this blog integrated into this website (as opposed to providing a link to a WordPress site) I expect to be posting a lot more regularly. Sorry for the delays. I’m sure many of you turned blue while holding your breath waiting for me, but I ran into a lot more technical difficulties than I expected. […]