In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * I Get Emails * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Critical mind has one job in fiction: to keep you from writing fiction.” Me, to a friend on the east coast when his novel kept shutting down. I Get Emails A writer—I’ll call her Sylvia, which might or might not be her actual name—emailed to ask my opinion about using WooCommerce and selling through your own WordPress website vs. using Payhip, Shopify, etc. Of course, every writer and indie publisher is different, but no matter … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Writing Aliens * Affinity Publisher is a Quagmire * According to D2D * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step outside the frame.” Salman Rushdie Writing Aliens Among the most difficult things for a science fiction writer to do is come up with a convincing alien species. In fact, we most often take the easy way out and default to humanoid figures with different features: witness Klingons, Vulcans, Ferengi, and other species encountered during the voyages … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Echoes of Hemingway * Critical Voice vs. Creative Voice * Of Interest * The Numbers Echoes of Hemingway is published. It will go live on Amazon and everywhere else on July 12. But it is live NOW at the StoneThread Publishing discount store. BUT WAIT!  UPGRADED OFFER! I misspoke in yesterday’s TNDJ. You can get BOTH the Echoes of Hemingway anthology AND my 10-story Mobster Tales collection for donating $10 to the TRUE PULP Kickstarter! For descriptions on both collections, see yesterday’s post. Basically, you get THIRTY high-quality short stories for reading pleasure and instruction for … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Echoes of Hemingway * True Pulp Anthology Push * Of Interest * The Numbers Echoes of Hemingway I spent much of yesterday doing the layout and formatting for the Echoes of Hemingway anthology. I think it’s gonna be great. Today I’m looking at stock photos. When I have a cover and a promo doc finished and I’m ready to publish the thing, I’ll announce everything here. But read on. All early proceeds will go to the TRUE PULP anthology Kickstarter. TRUE PULP ANTHOLOGY PUSH I did this a few days ago, but I forgot to add … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Bradbury Challenge * Recommendation * A Glitch * The Anthology Is Shaping Up * The Writing * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “In case you were wondering what these titles are all about, I recently read a book by a well known flash fiction writer [in] which she includes a few exercises. One exercise caught my attention where she challenges you to write a terrible story. Break rules, screw up setting, write out of the regular format or whatever comes to mind. “This led me to … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Addressing Unreasoning Fear * The Value of Openings * Of Interest * The Numbers Addressing Unreasoning Fear So this excellent fiction writer hadn’t written any fiction for several months before s/he wrote a story for the Echoes of Hemingway contest. I emailed the writer recently to suggest s/he could keep the fiction flowing by jumping into the Bradbury Challenge and writing at least one short story every week. S/he responded with “Thanks, good suggestion. The thought excites and scares me simultaneously.” Here’s my response. I suspect several other writers out there need to be reminded of … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Echoes of Hemingway Reminder * A New Short Story * Bradbury Reminder * The Journey Home Saga Continues * The TRUE PULP Kickstarter Push * Of Interest * The Numbers Echoes of Hemingway Reminder If I accepted your story(ies) for the EOH anthology, please get your final version of you story(ies) back to me in the next few days. I want to get this thing put together and get it published. A New Short Story “Freddie Salomar” went live Friday at 10 a.m. on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. This is an odd short story that just … Read more

In Today’s Journal * About Copyedits * Of Interest * The Numbers About Copyedits A few writers who entered the contest (and whose work was accepted) emailed me to say things like “Sorry, but I didn’t really accept ALL your edits.” Don’t apologize. Good on you for defending your work. I’m completely unattached to outcome on anyone’s fiction other than my own. I try to help other writers when I can, but whether they accept my suggestions is completely up to them. The stories are theirs, after all. To lay one fear to rest, when I edit for a contest, … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Anthology? * I Get Emails * Valuable Links * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.” Ruby Dee I’ve long said the most important group of words in the English language is the question. Not because it leads to an answer, but because it leads to more questions. Yer Uncle Harv Anthology? Today I’ll conduct the final copyedit of an excellent story that was submitted for the Echoes of Hemingway contest and anthology. Then I’ll probably begin putting the anthology … Read more

In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * The Novel Wrapped * Writing Publishing Streak Extended * Echoes of Hemingway * The Numbers Quote of the Day “What the herd hates most is the one who thinks differently. It is not so much the opinion itself, but the audacity of that one wanting to think for himself, something the members of the herd do not know how to do.” after Arthur Schopenhauer The Novel Wrapped The novel wrapped yesterday at a little over 37,000 words with what my first reader called “a very pleasantly surprising ending.” I’m pleased to … Read more