Anne R. Allen

The Journal: What the Journal Is All About

In today’s Journal * I lost a whole day * What the Journal is all about * A new comment policy * About Atlas Obscura * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers I lost a whole day yesterday, but I brought it on myself. I’m out here in public, an easy target for anyone who wants to snipe, but that doesn’t mean I have to belabor you with the specifics. You might take a lesson from all of this though: People who don’t know you will hear whatever they want to hear, whatever suits their purpose and gives them … Read more

The Journal: Writer Fear

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: Writer Fear * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “A good story is a good story no matter how you classify it.” Claire Langley-Hawthorne Topic: Writer Fear By now, anyone who follows this blog regularly or even irregularly knows I advocate Heinlein’s Rules and a technique called Writing Into the Dark (WITD). This is not original to me, nor is it original to Dean Wesley Smith, from whom I learned it. Nor was it original to whomever taught it to him. WITD is all about … Read more

The Journal: The Good and Bad of Critique

In today’s Journal * Quote of the day * Today’s “Of Interest” * Today and tomorrow * Of Interest * The Numbers Most of the items in today’s “Of Interest” are all about selling ebooks. Don’t miss those. There’s a ton of good information at those links. The last item in “Of Interest” illustrates why inviting critique on your work can be a bad idea. In fact, it can be detrimental to your work. The simple fact is, some critiquers go too far, and how screwed-up your work can become depends on how much you trust your critiquer. I recommend … Read more

The Journal: Quote of the Day (and Little Else)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I got tired of wading through discussions that had nothing to do with helping authors make a living with their words and everything to do with Proper Group Think and Virtue Signaling the appropriate amount of Woke.” C.D. Watson on why s/he left RWA No topic today, and very little else, but a good “Of Interest” section. And I had a pretty good fiction writing day. Talk with you again soon. Of Interest See “But It’s Important!” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/but-its-important/. This … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, August 19

In today’s Journal * Slow start today * Topic: Some Basic Tenets of Cover Design * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Slow start today as I’m still worn out from the wonderful trek Dan and I had around southeast Arizona yesterday. Weird. We didn’t do a lot. Mostly we were driving, stopping now and then to take photos. But I could easily spend today doing nothing at all. I had hoped to find some new cover-pics, but no luck there. However, I did find a whole town full of cover-pic opportunities (Douglas, Arizona). I will revisit that … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, August 12

In today’s Journal * Topic: Time and Priorities * Daily diary * Of Interest * The numbers Topic: Time and Priorities Karen Riggs posted in PWW on Sunday, August 11 (see “Of Interest”), about her process when her writing stalls. Especially if the stall is caused by interference from the conscious, critical voice. She mentions that some writers go do something else for awhile to rob the critical voice of its power. Then they come back to the writing. She also mentions that she might have “a set window of time to write” on a given day and “there’s a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, July 20

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: My Typical Early Morning * Daily diary * Of Interest (a lot today) * The numbers Quotes of the Day “The subjective opinions of a certain group of people at a certain moment in time say nothing about the value of your work.” JA Konrath “My advice to authors is to do a POD print book directly with Amazon for Amazon and directly with Ingram Spark for bookstores.” Lee Foster (This agrees with advice from Reedsy in yesterday’s “Of Interest.” “Caroline [Todd] practically leapt out of her chair and slapped … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, February 6

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ Tigritude ▪ First readers abound ▪ On process ▪ I didn’t keep a reverse outline ▪ The daily diary ▪ A LOT in Of Interest ▪ The numbers From The Passive Guy, “A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts.” ~ Wole Soyinka I’m not sure, but I believe “tigritude” is my new favorite word. *** I’m amazed (but very pleased) to report I had four positive responses to my request on the Pro Writers blog for first readers yesterday. Should any of them happen to read this, Thank You. Of course, I … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, January 9

Hey Folks, Well, the beat goes on. Just as I ended last year with the passing of my lifelong friend Kenneth Flowers in late December, this month was marred by the passing of my dear friend Penny Porter. Probably you’ve never heard of Penny, but she was a major help to writers around the globe as well as an excellent writer herself. Penny, along with her friend Dale Adams, was intrumental in starting the Society of Southwestern Authors (SSA) in Tucson Arizona. In its heyday, the SSA held an annual conference rivaled by few others in size and quality. In … Read more