Keeping Things Updated I was chatting with a cover artist today and after giving him my web site URL he asked me how my novel “Last Run” was coming along, since it showed I was 22% complete. Hmmm… old news.…
Category: Craft
Amid, Among, Between, Betwixt
Just signed up for the 2018 Agents & Editors Conference here in Austin. Last minute. Second year going. Wasn’t going to, but after working on a single query letter for the better part of the day, I might as well…
On Relevance and Faithfulness (Or, Tomato, Potato)
As I (continue to) procrastinate writing the climax, denouement, and conclusion to my second novel, I’m getting great feedback from specific beta readers. One in particular read Angels just for the Jewish POV and info. Having been raised Orthodox, and…
When the plot goes out of control
Writing this article is a way for me to procrastinate yet another major revision to my current manuscript. But it’s a learning moment for me, that’s worth sharing. Being able to write without editing is hard for most folks to…
On Pantsing, Characters, and “Writer’s Block”
Isaac Asimov, at his “best” (we can critique his literary skills elsewhere) could sit down and pound out a novel as fast as he could type on his clunky electric typewriter[1]. With the kind of throughput he had, he had…
Flipping the Page
I wanted Angels to be finished, or at least topped off, by January 1. I missed that deadline, but my real next deadline is getting back to my editor with changes to Infection, which is a whole other genre and…
From the bottom of the writing/critiquing well…
I’m watching other writers and their blog posts. Some are regular as clockwork—it’s part of their marketing campaign, their name branding, and they’ve got more time (and definitely more discipline) to keep on that track. I’ll need to do it…
WIP Screen
Just a quick upload before Yom Kippur. My protagonist is an ultra-Orthodox (Misnaged) homicide detective. It’s fun to weave the Yiddishized syntax along with Yiddish into the manuscript. I’ve ranted against Scrivener for years, but I don’t have the time…
ArmadilloCon Flotsam & Jetsam
Just little bit from last week’s conference. Also submission grinder, which has some useful search tools (but definitely slanted towards SF/FF/Horror and not “straight” fiction. I came away with a hunger to write that I haven’t felt to this degree…
ArmadilloCon ’39 Critiques
There are five writers per group at the ArmadilloCon writer’s workshop. Four manuscripts to critique. Along with life, job, and one’s own writing. Most folks do the 5k max, but I’ve got one (shown) that clocks in at around 3k.…