Month: November 2022

Very Short, Cozy Post

In today’s Journal * Very Short, Cozy Post * Happy Birthday * Of Interest Very Short, Cozy Post We’re making a trip to Sierra Vista a little later this morning. This post is short so I can get to the novel more quickly. Today’s “Of Interest” is all about (well, mostly about) cozy mysteries. But don’t let that put you off if you aren’t a writer of cozy mysteries. Almost any discussion of a particular genre includes gems and tidbits that apply, if not across the board of fiction, at least to other genres. Also, more than one fiction writer … Read more

Head Hopping and Author Intrusion

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Head Hopping and Author Intrusion * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere.” Carl Sagan Head Hopping and Author Intrusion First, these are two different problems. In today’s “Of Interest” there’s a link to an excerpt of a post about head-hopping. The post is by Susan DeFreitas. What Susan writes in her post, which is basically a response to a question, is probably good advice. To be honest, I didn’t read it. Just be sure to … Read more

Not Moving, HarveyStanbrough.com and Mentorships

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Sorry for the Confusion * Not Moving * The City That Is HarveyStanbrough.com * Mentorships Slots Are Open * Of Interest Quote of the Day “As a child, I felt that books were holy objects, to be caressed, rapturously sniffed, and devotedly provided for. I gave my life to them. I still do. I continue to do what I did as a child; dream of books, make books and collect books.” Maurice Sendak Sorry for the Confusion In yesterday’s Journal, I whined a bit about getting so few opens and click-throughs … Read more

The WIBBOW Rule and Rules of Writing

In today’s Journal * Applying the WIBBOW Rule * Keep Working the Problem * Other Stuff * Of Interest Applying the WIBBOW Rule Wow. Yesterday I received stats on my first “newsletter” sent from Revue to my readers: Of 351 emails delivered, only 39 were opened (11% of the recipients). Of those 39 subscribers who actually opened the email, only 5 (12%) clicked through to the site at HarveyStanbroughWrites.com. Nobody unsubscribed, so I guess that’s something. Still, with only 39 subscribers bothering to even open the email, and with only 5 clicking through to visit the site, I have to … Read more

Today’s Journal, My Writing, and Subscriptions

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Today’s Journal * My Writing * Subscriptions * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Ehh, good enough.” Mediocretes (from a meme a friend sent me) Today’s Journal First, a personal note: Happy Birthday to my youngest son, Roy, who turns 37 years old today. I’m shaking my head, wondering where the time’s gone. The first three items in “Of Interest” are all from Jane Friedman’s blog digest. The first two repeat some things I’ve been teaching for years. But they say those things in a different way, and in the first … Read more

A Newsletter Platform, and the State of the Nation for Fiction Writers

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A Newsletter Platform * The State of the Nation for Fiction Writers * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up.” Dame Anna Wintour “Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.” Emily Post “There is no such thing as a little freedom. Either you are all free, or you are not free.” Walter Cronkite “Certainly what one is, is of far greater … Read more

Emailing Programs and Other Stuff

In today’s Journal * Short Story of the Week * Emailing Programs * Of Interest Short Story of the Week As I mentioned yesterday, I just posted a new free short story over at https://harveystanbroughwrites.com/category/short-story-of-the-week/. Those of you who have social media accounts, please consider sharing the URL. I appreciate it. Emailing Programs In absence of word-of-mouth about the Stanbrough Writes website for readers, I’m also looking for a new program to send posts. I felt like I wanted to use Substack, so I tried that first. Turns out I was actually unable to upload a csv file to my … Read more

K.M. Robinson (again) and Marketing

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * K.M. Robinson (again) and Marketing * Math Doesn’t Lie * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” Isaac Newton (Somehow this seemed pertinent to writing fiction.) “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it.” Martin Luther King Jr. “Small … Read more

Audio Lectures, Books, and Other News

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Audio Lectures and Books * Publisher Penguin Random House * Spoiled Brats Are Like Flies * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.” Ray Kurzweil Story ideas, anyone? “PG says for once, cancel culture gets slapped across the wrist. It’s nice to see some adults in the room for a change.” The Passive Voice Audio Lectures and Books I got … Read more