Daily Journal

The Journal, Sunday, August 12

Hey Folks, Well, I took pretty much a full day off yesterday. I did a lot of things and had a great visit with my buddy, but I did no fiction writing at all. And three or four times, when nothing else was going on, I yearned to get back to the story. One of those good/bad feelings. So today it’s back to writing for at least awhile. I’ll set up the writing ‘puter in the Hovel, and every time I have a half-hour or so of dead time, I’ll head out there. We’ve been spoiled during this monsoon season … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, August 11

Hey Folks, Topic: How to Write Like I Do Recently I received an email in which a writer wrote (toward the end of some lengthy praise of my “process”) “I only wish I could write like you.” During an exchange of emails, I eventually determined the writer was talking about my ability to turn out a lot of quality short stories and novels fairly quickly (though I’m pretty much a slug by old pulp standards). And what the writer really meant was that s/he wished s/he could write, period. I explained that a short four years ago (2014) I too … Read more

The Journal, Friday, August 10

Hey Folks, Okay, first up, I recommend you visit Reedsy.com and subscribe to their free newsletter. Seriously. If there’s more than one, subscribe to the one by Ricardo Fayet. Extremely informative articles, but they come only via email. Topic: Take Your Time Most of you know I enjoy reading thrillers and action-adventure novels. (What are called “thrillers” today were called “men’s action-adventure” back in the ’60s and ’70s.) When I find something that blows my socks off, I finish reading for pleasure, then go back and find that place and study it to see how the guy (or gal) did … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, August 9

Hey Folks, Long post today. Get a beverage. Settle in. Wow. Stayed up too late last night. It was a great night, with almost constant low-level rumbling thunder and distant flashes of lightning through the window. Not a lot of rain, but a great, soothing (and cool) light and sound show. But as a result I stayed up far too late, enjoying the breeze through the door. And as a result of that I got up late this morning. If I’m not careful, that late rising will throw off my whole day. *** Topic: Prejudice and Discrimination Anyone else ever … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, August 8

Hey Folks, Some great new (to me) memes on Facebook lately. One I saw read “How many grammar nazis does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer? “Too.” (grin) Another read, “I swallowed a dictionary. It gave me thesaurus throat I’ve ever had.” I know. Groan. But it’s still funny, so I thought I’d share. Another older one was, “The past, present and future walked into a bar. It was tense.” (grin) Okay, enough of that nonsense. *** To the Hovel early, three good sessions (with breaks) for a little over 3000 words, then up to the house … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, August 7

Hey Folks, According to an article I read this morning on Venezuela’s economy, you can now buy 3,500,000 liters (that’s 924,602 gallons) of 91-octane gasoline there for one US dollar (about 80,400 bolivars). Almost makes it worthwhile to consider buying a tanker truck and getting all the necessary permits, doesn’t it? But buy your eggs at home in the local grocery or from a farmer. In Venezuela today, a single egg costs 200,000 bolivars (about $2.49). This is not a rant on socialism. In my mind, the Prime Directive applies on Earth as it does in space fantasy. Citizens create … Read more

The Journal, Monday, August 6

Hey Folks, Wow. Not sure what’s going on with the Journal. I posted an entry early on Saturday, yet it didn’t “ship” through Mail Chimp until yesterday and it was dated for yesterday (though the actual post was dated correctly). Weird. And then I wrote a journal entry yesterday, but I forgot to post it. When I remembered, it was a few minutes after 5. So I’m leaving that post below. I’ll add minimally to it today and then post it. *** Well, no writing again today (Sunday). But knowing the novel will race along when I get back to … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, August 4

Hey Folks, In today’s “Of Interest,” the second entry is about what one writer does when he’s stuck in a story and unsure what to do next. If you read it and an impending sense of boredom doesn’t sweep over you, you’re probably a plotter and/or an outliner. And that’s fine. I want to say I disagree with the guy, but as Dean often reminds us, every writer is different. I will say that his post enabled me to understand how some writers can view writing as pure drudgery. I added the entry to “Of Interest” today to provide a … Read more

The Journal, Friday, August 3

Hey Folks, Slowly working my way back to getting out to the Hovel for at least one session before my wife leaves for work. So we’ll see how that goes. The Hovel is like the house, with adobe walls three feet thick. In the wintertime it’s perfect, because the adobe walls retain the heat from the day before pretty much all night. And I have a portable swamp cooler out there for these hot afternoons in the summer. But seriously, the Hovel makes me look forward to the winter. When I was younger, I was a pure desert rat. Back … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, August 2

Hey Folks, Well, when the smoke cleared yesterday I had just over 3000 new words on the story. Feels great to be writing again. This one is in a different style than my pulp-noir mysteries or detective stories or mob stories. It has as much action, but the writing requires considerably more patience. It’s a good change of gears for me. Hmm. Maybe if I go back to reporting my daily/monthly/annual numbers at the bottom, I’ll report them on the day after (like I did in the first paragraph above) instead of the day-of. That will remove any pressure I … Read more