The Journal, Saturday, March 31

Hey Folks, I jumped ahead a bit and published my latest last night, distributing it via Draft2Digital. Then I sent the Kindle file to my donors and to a few relatives who’ve shown an interest. This morning I sent it to Amazon and BundleRabbit. Finally, I created a new page for the book at HarveyStanbrough.com and then updated the Mystery Novels page on the same site. Then I did the same thing over at StoneThreadPublishing.com. So a lot of admin stuff this morning thus far. I expect to get back to the new WIP sometime today. But it’s the weekend, … Read more

The Journal, Friday, March 30

Hey Folks, This is a process post. I started reading my latest novel to Mona yesterday morning. Reading aloud is the best possible way to proofread. The ears process words less quickly than the eyes, so you catch more stupid mistakes. Also, this morning, I remembered there was one chapter (one I haven’t read aloud yet) in which the two detectives are in the bullpen. As they work on preliminary computer stuff for a few upcoming cases, the POV character relates an overview of two cases they’ve recently closed. One was a very odd suicide and the other was a … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, March 29

Hey Folks, A lot of good links included today. The learning truly never ends. I started the morning per usual, cycling back over what I wrote yesterday. As I went, I realized I’d left some sensory detail out of a few scenes at the beginning of chapters. That “grounding the reader” thing. It’s important. So why do I have to do that while cycling? Well, I don’t always. Most of the time I remember to ground the reader at the beginning of each major scene and chapter as I’m writing it. But that’s the value of cycling. Of being “unstuck … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, March 28

Hey Folks, Well, I spoke too soon. (grin) Yesterday I thought I saw the end of the WIP and figured I’d get there today. Maybe I will, and maybe I won’t. I’m still certain it’s near. But as I cycled back over what I wrote yesterday, I cut about 2000 words. I also created a cover for this one, so that’s done early. That’s it on the left. This wasn’t conscious-mind stuff. This was my characters (one good guy and one very bad guy) stopping dead still on the stage, staring out at me, and saying, “Uh… no.” So I … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, March 27

Hey Folks, Not a lot to report today, other than a good early day of writing. Between 4 and 8 with a few breaks I added a little over 3000 words to the novel. And the end is in sight. Given another hour, I’d finish it this morning, but I have to go to Tucson for the doc appointment. This will be a short novel. I should finish it tomorrow with what will probably be a light day of writing. When I sat down this morning, I wanted it to be a good writing day but I honestly didn’t have … Read more

The Journal, Monday, March 26

Hey Folks, Well, it’s Sunday as I write this, but I won’t post it until Monday, after I’ve written something. I only opened the boilerplate today to add the first bit in “Of Interest.” I’ll add others (if any) tomorrow before I post. Okay, now it’s Monday morning. The first thing I did was revise my “The Original Heinlein’s Rules” post (I added 450 words) and scheduled it for May 29 over on the big blog. When it pops up, I hope you’ll read it. It’s considerably different from when I posted it here back on March 9. Editing this … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, March 24

Hey Folks, Well, I decided to post this today mostly to share the “Of Interest” section. Well, and to publish the following topic. This one will be on the big blog in May as well. Topic: On Publishing, Indie-Publishing and Making a Name as a Published Author I received another query today from a writer who’s interested in a copyedit. He also asked whether I would help him find an agent and a traditional publisher. Uhh, no. After I explained why I thought the agent chase and traditional publishing in general was not a good idea, he wrote in reponse … Read more

The Journal, Friday, March 23

Hey Folks, Well, the copyedit came in. The plan was to copyedit the first few hours of the morning, then spend the rest of the day writing. But some glitches occurred today that kept me from going onto my own writing. I went out to the Hovel a few times, but was always called away. Finally I gave up on writing today and decided to focus on the copyedit. As I was doing that, I decided since the weekend’s coming up, I’ll plan to work only on the edit tomorrow and Sunday too. That should finish it (early) and I … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, March 22

Hey Folks, Well, the doc appointment was rescheduled by the office for next Tuesday. And I shed myself of the problem I’ve had for the past few days. So today I get to write. I also have a few chores to do, so this will be one of those Keep Coming Back days. We’ll see how it goes. *** According to my friend Dan Baldwin, “The Writer has an article on ‘How To Write A Book In 90 Days’ in eight simple steps. First step – take a month to prepare.” (grin) Thanks for the tip, Dan. *** Spent the … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, March 21

Hey Folks, Out to the Hovel early but I didn’t turn to the novel right away. Instead I wrote a nonfiction piece that probably most of you will never see. Maybe more background for my next WIP, I don’t know. Then I worked on the current novel. After I had about 1600 words done, I headed out to check the PO at about 11, then back home. I boiled some eggs a couple days ago, and I had the bright idea that I’d make some deviled eggs as a surprise for my wife. So I decided to do that. The … Read more