Of Rabbit Holes and Revisions My current work in progress was born of two parents. One, to create a humorous, offbeat fantasy a la Terry Pratchett and two, to follow a writing guide, i.e. the Hero’s Journey (and Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel). The tale started well enough. But by the fourth and fifth chapter I was hip-deep in banal epic fantasy normality. I followed the tale where it led me, even though I had laid out the outline and four act structure beforehand. It felt like I was on track. The characters were… Read Article →
Posts Tagged: writing
How to Avoid the Landmines 98.2% of today’s self-published authors wet their feet with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). I made that stat up, but it’s gotta be close. And rightly so, Amazon is THE main marketplace and an author can have a finished book out for sale with less than an hour’s work. So, it makes sense to start there. I did. Then I went wide. Publishing with KDP and D2D proved to have several pitfalls. I published A Night to Remember with KDP just to see what the hubbub was all about. After the… Read Article →
Registration is open Hello Fellow Writers! It’s registration time for Pikes Peak Writers Conference – “Wordstock ’23: 3 Days of Peace, Love & Writing!” Join me there for my workshop And…ACTION! Fighting and Fight Scenes 101 and see me on stage as the conference emcee. The crew putting this together are second to none. Check out all the info below. Links embedded to help you navigate our conference website and registration. Keynotes: We are thrilled to have amazing keynotes this year! And equally thrilled to announce our Featured Author is USA Today Bestseller Siera London. For more information about… Read Article →
When to do it Yourself and When to Call in an Expert Each of us has strengths, talents, resources, and motivations. We each look to our day and weigh the priorities and assess our capabilities in addressing what the day requires. In that assessment, we must consider time vs. money–whether we want to tackle each task or whether we should handoff a project to someone else. Many of us are do-it-yourselfers. We’ll give up a weekend or a week to fix the problem or complete the project. Motivations in this realm range from the satisfaction… Read Article →
Three new titles are coming your way over the next six months. The season of giving is fast approaching. What better gift to give a loved one than a rollicking good story? While you can go to Amazon.com right now and pick up Dawn Trouble, Fresh Starts, and A Night to Remember (all awesome), there are more titles coming your way! Thanksgiving Day (that’s November 24th for you lovely non-American folks) will see the wide release of A Night to Remember both in ebook and in revamped paperback (different layout, different format, same fun story)…. Read Article →
It Matters Which Chair You Park In Coffee shops. Pubs. Libraries. Writers sitting in the shadowy corners of public places, jotting down future classics is so iconic the image has become a trope. From a boozy Ernest Hemingway hanging out at Sloppy Joes in Key West to an impoverished JK Rowling finishing the first Harry Potter in a café, stories abound of locations tied to literary legends. These images are part of the writing life’s allure. Gone from the consciousness (hopefully) is the heavy smoker slaving over a dimly it typewriter. Yet, the idea of… Read Article →
Writers conferences aren’t cheap, but their benefits are priceless. Registration opened November 1st for the 30th Annual Pikes Peak Writers Conference and I wouldn’t miss it for the world. America’s Friendliest Conference is where the spark of my writing journey caught flame. The benefits of writers conferences like PPWC keep the fires burning even when rejection letters or life’s interventions threaten to dowse them with stank bog water. If you’ve never attended a writers conference, for those that are con-curious, please, allow me to illustrate a few reasons to fork over the dough and go… Read Article →