The Daily Journal, Wednesday, January 30

Hey Folks, Another pretty good “Of Interest” section and a topic on one way to lose readers. Be careful out there. Topic: One Way to Lose Readers I wasted a lot of time today writing a lengthy topic (around 1500 words) that, in the end, seemed inane to me. So I trashed it. The words weren’t “wasted” though because they brought me to this. So I’ll just say a few quick things, because my main job is to tell stories, to entertain, and I want to get back to it. My secondary job is to pass along what I know … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, January 28

Hey Folks, Some amazing stuff in “Of Interest” today, and maybe a topic on a new writing exercise you can try. But first to the novel. I rolled out a little late this morning, and I’m anxious to get to it. (grin) Though I did take a brief side-trip to share an excerpt from it on Facebook this morning. Topic A New Excercise to Try A few years ago, when I first became convinced one of the most important components of a story is the opening, I designed an exercise for myself. I wasn’t in the middle of a novel … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, January 21

Hey Folks, Update: I talked with Mark Alpert via email. He did not take down his post at the Kill Zone blog. According to Alpert, unspecified others at TKZ took it down because it was “too political.” I can understand that, given that the stated purpose of the blog is to provide “Insider perspectives from top thriller and mystery writers.” But I still don’t like censorship. Oddly, I lost a long-time (over a year) subscriber yesterday too. I believe she left because of my response. Possibly I wrote too much re the Alpert column. I can’t apologize for that. This … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, January 12

Hey Folks, First, to new subscriber M. Shephard, thanks for jumping in! Good to have you along. *** I made a new friend (well, acquaintance) early this morning. A guy wrote me out of the blue to request all six books from my current special offer. He went on to say he graduated high school a year before I did (different school) and knew several people from my hometown. He also said he’d only recently found my books and had just finished reading The Wes Crowley Saga (all ten books in one edition) and loved it. Talk about a great … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, January 2

Hey Folks, Our second snowfall of the year (yes, here in the desert) started this morning. Creating, of course, the illusion that the world has shifted on its axis and it’s going to snow every day during 2019. (grin) This is a “real” snow, with about 4″ on the ground at the moment and plenty more coming. My wife’s considering granting herself a 2-hour delay if she goes in at all. Fortunately, my own commute to the office is only about 200 feet outside my back door. (grin) *** We have one little hummingbird who stays with us year-round. He … Read more

The Journal, Friday, December 28

Hey Folks, Merry Second Christmas to me. My excellent first reader returned her input on Situation Solved this morning. (huge grin) So it will release on February 15 as scheduled. Thanks, Alison! Alison Naomi Holt is an accomplished writer and screenwriter in her own right (see https://alisonholtbooks.com/). She is also a personal friend. A retired detective from the Tucson PD, Alison writes the Alex Wolfe mysteries (four books so far) as well as epic fantasy and psychological suspense. I particularly enjoy her Alex Wolfe mysteries, and you can get the first one (Credo’s Hope) FREE just by signing up for … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, December 25

Hey Folks, Well, I guess I’ll continue my streak of writing (almost) every day. It really is easy when I have a WIP. It’s much easier to take a day off between stories than to take a day off when a story’s still unfolding. (grin) That’s the main reason I’m glad I was able to make the process of writing fun. When I enjoy being surprised and entertained by the characters in their story, that expectation drives me back to the computer to write when I might not otherwise go. Which of course is why I’m so frantic to start … Read more

The Journal, Friday, December 21

Hey Folks, If you’re part of Draft2Digital, yesterday you received a very nice Christmas poem from them. I always find it interesting when a company does something they don’t “have” to do. D2D didn’t have to send out that holiday greeting. After all, it went out (at least via email) only to those who are already signed up. It isn’t even on their blog. To see the poem, click This Link. D2D is a vibrant young innovative distribution company, still at the stage where they actually care about writers. If you aren’t using D2D yet, I hope you’ll jump on … Read more

The Journal, Monday, December 3

Hey Folks, Another good quote: “I am what I am. To look for reasons is beside the point.” — Joan Didion And another one from Chandler: “I have a sense of exile from thought, a nostalgia of the quiet room and balanced mind. I am a writer, and there comes a time when that which I write has to belong to me, has to be written alone and in silence, with no one looking over my shoulder, no one telling me a better way to write it. It doesn’t have to be great writing, it doesn’t even have to be … Read more

The Journal, Friday, November 30

Hey Folks, Last day of the month already! In November! In 2018! What in the world happened? How is it not still the 1980s? Okay, long post today. But I think you’ll find it interesting. My new favorite quote: “Stages of development’ are for people who write one book a year.” — Robert J. Randisi (who is one year older than I and has written over 600 novels). Topic: Genre Structure Recently my first reader made a few recommendations that, had I applied them, would have switched the first two genre tags of my novel Consequences. The genre tags are … Read more