Month: February 2023

In today’s Journal * A Short Post * You Can’t Make This Shup * Of Interest A Short Post A short post today, mostly to pass along the “Of Interest” items and to let you know I probably won’t publish an edition of the Journal tomorrow. I’ll be at Schieffelin Hall on the main drag in Tombstone Arizona to take part in a book fair, an extremely rare occurrence for me. If any of you happen to be in the vicinity, please stop by. I’d enjoy chatting with you. Here’s the graphic my wife created for her Facebook announcement: You … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Changes to the Journal * More AI Stuff * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “All fungi are edible. Some fungi are only edible once.” Terry Pratchett “There are plenty of valuable (that is, profitable) use cases for this tech [AI] but faking human creativity ain’t it.” Felix Torres Changes to the Journal Owing in part to a pair of brief discussions recently with a couple of other folks, I’ve changed the appearance of the Journal. One discussion had to do with serif vs. sans serif fonts. In the latter, it’s … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Some More Thoughts on Ernest Hemingway * You Can’t Make This Shup * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Ernest Hemingway’s signature style broke the mold. His short, declarative sentences, intentional repetition, and general absence of adjectives were a departure from the style of every previous novelist.” Jessica Leader “It’s hard to imagine a writer who hasn’t been affected by him. He changed the furniture in the room.” Author Tobias Wolff “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Roald Dahl Revisited * Short Stories * It’s Good to Be the King * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Following the publisher’s logic would be equal to transforming the M˜y Lai Massacre into a misunderstanding with unpleasant consequences that shouldn’t be discussed because it’s too upsetting for some people.” Jeffrey Herman in an article about so-called sensitivity readers (see “Of Interest”) “It costs much, much less to hire a literary attorney to examine the contract before you sign it than it does to hire that same attorney to get you … Read more

In today’s Journal * US Copyright Office * BookBub Ads * Of Interest Just sharing a little today. From 1440 Daily Digest “US Copyright Office rules artwork and images produced using artificial intelligence tools cannot be copyrighted (More)” BookBub Ads I recently attended a Getting Started with BookBub Ads webinar. I don’t think they would mind me sharing since doing so means more potential revenue for them. To watch the recording, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucFV1PeDB-w To download the accompanying slides, click PDF Download. From a followup email I received from BookBub, “If you’re ever in need of a quick summary of the … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Welcome * Happy Mardi Gras * We Among Aliens * Speaking of SF * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Selling has little if anything to do with it. Writers don’t write to sell, we write to tell stories.” Dean Wesley Smith in a response to a comment on his website “The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.” Vincent Van Gogh “[S]ometimes when I’m stuck coming up with a character in a setting with … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * You Can’t Make This Shup * Dean’s Post on AI * Roald Dahl * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “You can’t script the unexpected. Life is full of unexpected events. Scripted novels are not.” Dan Baldwin “Today, I only listen to what my characters tell me. … This approach to writing keeps me always in suspense. The same can be said for my readers.” Dan Baldwin “Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.” Jake Barnes to Robert Cohn in The Sun Also Rises “Genre is a … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Hemingway * I’ve dropped off “Hortencia Alvarez” * Of Interest Quote of the Day “Just write one true sentence.” Ernest Hemingway Hemingway While I’m spending time away from the Hovel, I’m reading quite a lot. I recently read roughly half of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition. By keying the title into a search engine, you can find used copies for around $7 on up. A new paperback copy on Amazon is under $15. Extremely inexpensive for a masters class on writing. I have this one … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * On Character and Setting * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Too stupid for words and too dangerous and wow are you a lazy bastard if you can’t write your own fiction.” Dean Wesley Smith on whether to use AI-generated content in stories “PG contends that social problems are social problems, not word problems.” The Passive Guy On Character and Setting Awhile back I was talking with a writer about my nonfiction book, Writing the Character-Driven Story. He asked why I put such emphasis on character and setting. Aren’t the events … Read more

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Generating Graphics * On Writing Techniques (or Not) * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Michael Jordan “One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary [humans]. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary [human].” Elbert Hubbard, American writer Generating Graphics I do not personally recommend any subscription options for designing covers, social media ads, flyers and other graphics you might need as an indie publisher. There are simply too many great graphics design programs … Read more