If you read most author blogs, there’s one theme in common across the board: successful writers are the ones who stick with it, no matter how tough or discouraging things get. We all laugh in amazement when we hear how many rejections Author X received before publishing The Blockbuster of the Century or how many …
Category: Writing
Aug 11
The Essential Checklist for the Self-Published Author
It’s an unfortunate thing that there’s a stigma associated with self-publishing. I don’t think most people look at a self-employed plumber and say, with a shake of their heads, “Gosh. I guess he must not be good enough to cut it at a big plumbing company.” Most of us, I think, are happy to support …
Jul 19
Storytime
Well, S.K. is on vacation so you’re stuck with another blog post from me. (Hope you’re enjoying the beach, S.K. Without me. Yep…enjoying mojitos on the beach, with the waving palm trees and parrots……without me….). (I’m only slightly jealous. Slightly.) Anyway. Angsting aside, I just read a fabulous blog post by Jane Friedman called Why …
Jul 05
Wrangling Runaway Stories
J. Leigh would like to officially apologize for not blogging in ages. J. Leigh has been very busy. J. Leigh will now stop referring to herself in the third person. Funny how so often my ideas for blog posts are spawned by the various and sundry issues I face while trying to write. So right …
Jun 28
Build Your Own Writers’ Conference
There’s a reason why many companies have yearly seminars. It gives employees a chance to fire up their enthusiasm for their company and its products or services. It offers them a chance to unplug from the ordinary and have some fun while networking with others in their field. And it gives them the chance to …
Jun 16
A Matter of Perspective, Part II
I’d like to continue J. Leigh’s discussion of POV vs. perspective. This is such an important topic for writers, and something that can make or break a story if not executed correctly. In the last post, J. Leigh defined perspective as a refinement or narrowing of the larger category of point-of-view. When writing, you have …
Jun 11
Silesia: The Outworlder Now Available!
Just a quick announcement on the release of Silesia: The Outworlder! It is available immediately as an e-book, and the paperback edition will follow shortly! Download your copy here today! I have so many people to thank for this project, so I’d just like to take a moment to make some acknowledgments. For J. Leigh – I …
Jun 09
A Matter of Perspective
I’ve been thinking a lot about perspective lately. That is, perspective in the literary sense of the term. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity to ramble a bit about it. “Perspective” technically means: A way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance The proper or accurate point of view or the …
May 26
Pocket God — or How to Be a Mean Author
So, a while back I heard about this phone app called Pocket God. I kind of wanted a smart phone just to be able to play this game. Basically, the idea was you get this little man that you can torture in all kinds of fun ways. You can strike him with lightning, or feed …
May 16
When Good Stories Go Bad…
Well, “bad” may be a bit harsh. And maybe what I want to talk about today isn’t so much when a formerly good story becomes a mutant monster of epic proportions. What I want to talk about is something I have a bit more experience with — when a good story idea starts bad. You …