CrimeReads

The Journal: Just a Thought

In today’s Journal * Just a thought * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Just a thought— As I told a mentoring student this morning, “There are two kinds of writers: The first kind are those who live on high in an ivory tower. They dress in heavenly robes and exert control over every aspect of their characters’ lives as the characters move at the writer’s command (begrudgingly) through the trenches of the story. “Then there are those writers who aren’t afraid to get dirty and don’t WANT to control others’ lives. Those are the fortunate ones. They don … Read more

The Journal: Big “Of Interest” Section

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Info-packed “Of Interest” today * Today and critical mind * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “That which horrifies me interests me, and those things that horrify me the most sometimes become a book.” Douglas Preston, suspense author (with Lincoln Child) I like to think what I pass along in “Of Interest” is good every day, but today is a little special. During some research yesterday I stumbled on Strand Magazine. They have a blog. Within that blog they have a “Writing Tips” category. A lot of the … Read more

The Journal: A Sad Letter

In today’s Journal * Topic: A Sad Letter * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Topic: A Sad Letter I wasn’t planning to post the Journal today, but something came up that changed my mind. On Steven Pressfield’s site today, he posted “Writing is a Bad Idea” (see https://stevenpressfield.com/2020/02/writing-is-a-bad-idea/). After a brief introduction, he posts (with permission) a letter he received from a broken writer in Finland. I hope you’ll go read the post. Some of the comments are cruel. I left a comment too, but I’ve inserted it below, because this is important. It’s unfortunate that Kati was … Read more

The Journal: Just a Reminder

In today’s Journal * Just a reminder to my patrons * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Just a reminder to my patrons, please don’t forget to let me know what you’d like from your reward tier. You can see the tiers by clicking https://harveystanbrough.com/be-a-patron/. To read descriptions of novels, novellas, nonfiction books and short story collections (and make your selections), visit StoneThread Publishing at https://stonethreadpublishing.com/. Today is a day of book shifting, business planning, reading, studying and a trip to Sierra Vista. No fiction writing. (But I have a sneaking suspicion Algae Prime might be coming back.) Talk … Read more

The Journal: No Seriously, Nobody Cares

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: No Seriously, Nobody Cares * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “Nobody cares.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: No, Seriously, Nobody Cares This morning, Kris Rusch wrote a kind of rambling Business Musings post titled, “Nobody Cares.” When it goes public in a few days, I’ll link to it in “Of Interest” so you can see it for yourself. I suspect it was rambling because she was tired from just having finished teaching a live workshop in Vegas. (I wanted badly to tell her she could … Read more

The Journal: Humans Are Weird

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * In the Great News Department * Got Writing Chops? * Topic: Humans Are Weird * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Habits can get me to the keyboard, but they can also keep me away from it. When the habit becomes an ‘I can’t,’ then it’s time to re-evaluate the habit.” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “It is only when the latecomers [would-be writers] make the decision to be punctual [write] that they change. It must be a conscious decision; if they merely make a woolly attempt to … Read more

The Journal: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post)

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “If you’re not productive in this new world, you’re done. You’re just done.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: More on Word-Count Goals (a process post) I had a few questions about this, so I thought I’d revisit it. My daily word count goal is 3000 words per day beginning on January 1. Yesterday, I practiced. I started a short story that didn’t pan out, and I missed my goal. In fact, I … Read more

The Journal: An Excellent Opportunity

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: An Excellent Opportunity * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “I have always followed one bit of advice that echoes in my head, and it’s that as a writer … your number one job description is to communicate properly your idea. Being self-indulgent is for fine artists.” world-famous writer and cartoonist Bob Eckstein Topic: An Excellent Opportunity For anyone out there who wants to make money with your stories or the story bits that I call “internal IP” (settings, characters, items, gadgets, etc.), Dean Wesley … Read more

The Journal: The Ornery Little Comma

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: The Ornery Little Comma * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “The euphoria of self-publishing has worn off. … eBook Publishing, in general, seems to have stabilized.” Emily Harstone for AuthorsPublish. This is good news for those of us for whom writing and self-publishing is part of a business plan instead of a get-rich-quick scheme to make a quick buck. Topic: The Ornery Little Comma Note: I wrote this topic to fill a rotation slot in the PWW blog later this month, but I thought … Read more

The Journal: Production

In today’s Journal * Yesterday I raved * Topic: Production * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday I raved about Kris Rusch’s post on licensing in Patreon. I recommended signing up for her Patreon account. As a result (go figure), today she made that post public. I still recommend subscribing to her Patreon account. Again, it’s only $5 per month for all her Patreon content. But you get to read Business Musings: Die Hard (Licensing) today. See “Of Interest.” Great post. You might want to read it a couple of times. Topic: Production An email from another writer … Read more