In Today’s Journal
* I Get Enticing Emails
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
I Get Enticing Emails
I hadn’t planned to post anything today, but ss I was going through my inbox this morning deleting old stuff I don’t need anymore, I came across this:
Back on 29 October 2025, I received the following email through my Stanbrough Writes direct email address:
hi harvey,
really enjoyed the set-piece in your recent post. the focus and the hit scenes were tight and instructive, srsly. i dont mean a cameo
riff, more like a dedicated piece that unpacks technique from someone who actually does this stuff.
would you ever profile a relevant expert in a future post?
thanks,
The lack of capitalization etc. is verbatim. I withheld the name the person signed just in case it was his or her actual name.
From the tone of the note (“focus and hit scenes”), the author was referring to my short story “The Dunlap-Denman Hit,” derived from the Blackwell Ops world and posted to Stanbrough Writes on October 10, 2025.
The other two stories I published on Stanbrough Writes just before I received the note were
- “The Storm,” an intense SF story, and
- “White Ring Quilt,” also intense but a story set in wartime in the early 20th century
Both of those stories had serious overtones and a “set-piece” with a tight focus, but neither had “hit scenes.”
Anyway, I replied to the guy—or gal, the first name would be appropriate for either gender—that yes, I’d be thrilled to “profile a relevant expert in a future post,” but I never received a response.
Just my luck.
It takes all kinds, but just in case the guy or gal is seeing this, I’m still wide open to conducting an interview if you’re interested.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Email Marketing for Authors: Our Most Valuable Asset
Amazon is Allowing EPUB & PDF Downloads for DRM-Free Kindle Books: What Authors Need to Know
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 320
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 320
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date………… XXXXX
Fiction for January………………………… XXXX
Fiction for 2026…………………………… XXXX
Nonfiction for January.…………………… 8180
Nonfiction for 2026………………..……… 8180
2026 consumable words………………… 8180
2026 Novels to Date……………………… 0
2026 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2026 Short Stories to Date……………… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 123
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29