Daily Journal

The Journal, Saturday, June 2

Hey Folks, Dean’s post today (see “Of Interest” below) struck a chord with me. As a result, I added the topic below. I encourage you to read both his post and the topic. Some folks get it one way, some another. And this is a very important topic. Topic: “That” You Write vs. “What” You Write In today’s post (below), Dean Wesley Smith wrote “…all that matters is the writing, not the end product.” That seemingly innocuous statement is only one of the many truly major lessons I’ve learned from him and attempted to pass along. To establish credentials for … Read more

The Journal, Friday, June 1

Hey Folks, Short post today, which I’m sure you’ll find a relief after some of my recent ones. (grin) I had a good walk this morning. Otherwise I’m just writing today. I haven’t set aside the work tentatively titled Seduction quite yet, but I moved on to another one today. Maybe I’ll finish Seduction, maybe not. Not worried about it. It feels sluggish right now, and at the moment I just want to produce, get myself back on track with a routine. The new one, Dread, is listed below. New month, too, so I had to set up all my … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, May 31

Hey Folks, I keep hammering away at this. But as an instructor, I know some folks “get it” when they hear information one way, and some get it when they hear it another way or from another source. With that in mind, see Kris Rusch’s “Business Musings: An Agent Nightmare Revealed” at https://kriswrites.com/2018/05/30/business-musings-an-agent-nightmare-revealed/. Yep. It’s so important I added it to the main body of the Journal. And shared it with several writer groups on FB. *** Today should be a writing day, and it probably will be. It might be a percolation day. A percolation day is a day … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, May 30

Hey Folks, Had a great walk this morning. Fourth day in a row. My wife agrees that we should walk every day that we can and then we’ll take a day “off” only when the weather won’t permit us to walk. But it doesn’t rain here much, so…. Then again, we aren’t going all that far yet either. Only a mile or so. Later we’ll have to leave a little earlier on days when she has to go to work, but we’ll figure that out. There’s about a 1/4 mile dirt road from the highway to our house. I can’t … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, May 29

Hey Folks, Hmmm. I was confused for a few minutes this morning, but I finally figured it out. I erroneously titled yesterday’s post “Sunday, May 27” even though I wrote and posted it on Monday, May 28. Oh well. I had planned to get back to writing fiction today, but I have more admin stuff to take care of so probably not. And I’m in no rush. Anyway, here’s the second part of the topic I posted yesterday. If you didn’t see the first part. I strongly recommend you go back and read it. Then I’ll probably spend the balance … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, May 27

Hey Folks, Well, summer is here. Not only temperature-wise but with the earlier sunrises. I like that. With the advent of earlier sunrises, my wife and I can get back to walking in the early morning. We walk for time at the beginning. About 12 minutes out, then whatever time it takes to get back. Later, as I get in better shape and my weight starts to readjust a bit, we’ll increase the time out. I’ve written a lengthy two-part topic on Ebook Distribution. A comment I ran across on another blog set me off. I think I have a … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, May 26

Hey Folks, Still thinking of how to handle the two main websites, HarveyStanbrough.com and HEStanbrough.com. For a moment, I even thought I might leave both sites as they are and add a twice-monthly post for readers to HarveyStanbrough.com. And keep up the weekly Pro Writers posts. But that’s a lot of work. And I already do a lot of work. (grin) I also thought, very briefly, of moving this Journal back over there. Been there, done that. And it didn’t work well, especially given that this is a semi-daily blog. Right now, I have weekly Pro Writers blog posts scheduled … Read more

The Journal, Friday, May 25

Hey Folks, To the writing in the Hovel at 9:30. I started Jimmy the Dope yesterday, so I figured I might as well finish it. Still not much in the mood, but after I looked it over I felt a little more like writing it. Definitely a short story, though. It doesn’t feel like it wants to expand larger than one event, and that’s fine. With the stand-alone short stories I wrote for my previous WIP, when this one’s finished I’ll have around 200 short stories. Okay, I just looked 193. All the numbers at the bottom are correct now. … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, May 24

Hey Folks, Only four days left on the Special Time of Great Forgetting Offer at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/long-day/ (and scroll down to the second bold headline). I want to do this so badly I can barely stand it. Unfortunately, I’ve taken so many workshops there aren’t 4 left (currently) that I want to take. My loss. This is a great value and a great investment in yourself and your writing. $900 worth of training for $500. Check it out. *** Out to the Hovel late at 8:30. I spent some time looking through some of the stuff I started when I was … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, May 23

Hey Folks, Happy birthday to my dad. He would have been 90 years old today. Taking the day “off” today for professional training. (grin) Yesterday I completed the “Cliffhangers” classic workshop. Mostly I learned that I already know cliffhangers (and I thought I did). That’s all right. The validation from a guy who has over three decades in the business and over 200 novels is more than worth the money. And besides, I DID pick up a few things I didn’t know and hadn’t considered. That felt like a bonus. If you believe a cliffhanger is only a physical thing, … Read more