A New Wes Crowley Novel

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * A New Wes Crowley Novel * Adobe Walls * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Life is like a 10-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” Charles M. Schulz (Today is Schulz’ birthday.) “Before I came here I was confused about this subject. Having listened to your lecture I am still confused. But on a higher level.” Enrico Fermi A New Wes Crowley Novel For my new novel, I’ve started another Wes Crowley story. For anyone who’s new to this Journal, my first novel was about Wes Crowley, … Read more

Adobe Walls, and Great Marketing Advice

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Adobe Walls * Market Your Work * Of Interest Quote of the Day “A Positive Indie Author/Publisher Mindset — This is the most important factor of all. Once I made the decision (February 17, 2020) to treat my indie writing and publishing as a business, things really changed. It takes time and persistence, but it’s worth it.” Garry Rodgers Adobe Walls My wife found a couple of pics of me in and near Adobe Walls. If you’d like to see them, I added them to the Old Promo Pics page on … Read more

Spreading the Word, and Memes

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Spreading the Word * Memes * Of Interest Quote of the Day (maybe even the year) “You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” Carrie Fisher What excellent advice! Spreading the Word In reply to my comment on Garry Rodgers’ TKZ post yesterday, Garry wrote, “I checked your math and it works. BTW, WTF do you do in your spare time?” I couldn’t pass up an invitation like that: “In my spare time I do things I enjoy, of course. Like writing. … Read more

Something for (Almost) Everyone

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Something for (Almost) Everyone * Oops, Sorry * A Pueblo Verse * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” Mae Jemison “Always do your very best. Even when no one else is looking, you always are. Don’t disappoint yourself.” Colin Powell Something for (Almost) Everyone I suspect “Of Interest” today holds something of interest for almost everyone. Oops, Sorry Um, the ghost is posting again. (Thanks to KC for the email.) I have MailerLite set to send the Journal every day, but I also … Read more

What? and Writing Sales Copy

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * What? * Writing Sales Copy * Of Interest Quotes of the Day First, from the Department of the Absolutely Ridiculous: “The first words are the hardest. For many of us writing is a slog. Words drip with difficulty onto the page—and frequently they seem to be the wrong ones, in the wrong order.” not credited, so apparently a staff writer for The Economist “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein Preach it, Brother. What? Did anyone else visualize Dr. Smith from Lost in Space as you read the first Quote … Read more

Dare to Be Bad

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Dare to Be Bad * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work.” Stephen King (Amen. Preach it, brother.) “Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Topic: Dare to Be Bad Anyone who’s followed Dean Wesley Smith very long has heard him use this admonition in his blog. According to Dean, it’s something he and Nina … Read more

The Journal: Welcome, and We’re Searchable

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Welcome * We’re Searchable * The Novel * Of Interest Quote of the Day “I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.” Ray Bradbury Welcome Been awhile since I issued a formal welcome. Welcome to Frank T, Marcy C, and anyone else who has joined our Journal family recently. Glad to have you aboard, and I hope you find the Journal useful. We’re Searchable I’ve mentioned before that the Journal archives are fully searchable right on the Journal website. Just type your topic into the search box … Read more

The Journal: I Teach So I May Learn

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: I Teach So I May Learn * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “The upheavals [of artificial intelligence] can escalate quickly and become scarier and even cataclysmic. Imagine how a medical robot, originally programmed to rid cancer, could conclude that the best way to obliterate cancer is to exterminate humans who are genetically prone to the disease.” Nick Bilton “Observers typically attribute Hoover’s success to BookTok, the segment of TikTok dedicated to authors and readers.” from “The Unlikely Author Who’s Absolutely Dominating the Bestseller List” (Slate) (See “Of Interest” for … Read more

The Journal: How to Get Here, Part 2

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: How to Get Here, Part 2 * Of Interest Quotes of the Day “You have to believe in your long term plan, but you need short term goals to motivate and inspire you.” Roger Federer, professional tennis player (paraphrased) “Did you know that 94% of consumers in their 20s purchased boba (bubble tea) in the last three months?” 1440 Daily Digest Maybe a story starter? Soma, anyone? Topic: How to Get Here, Part 2 If you have chosen to opt-out of the responsibility-and-labor-and-drama-intensive myths and choose instead to trust yourself … Read more

The Journal: How to Get Here, Part 1

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * Topic: How to Get Here, Part 1 * Of Interest Quote of the Day “[T]he absolute best promotion for your books, proven through history and thousands of surveys and studies, is your next book.” Dean Wesley Smith Topic: How to Get Here, Part 1 If you want to be a professional fiction writer, there are two ways to go about it. To my mind, they are the hard way — following the myths and turning what should be fun into labor — and the easy, fun way: Writing Into the Dark, … Read more