Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal, Monday, April 30

Hey Folks, Well, I’m gonna end the month with a fizzle. No writing again today. Still a little under the weather this morning. I have to get through this bug, whatever it is. *** In other news, I got an interesting email from a writer who said he’d sent for a first-page critique. I assume he sent it to the folks at Kill Zone blog. He wrote “judging from the list, I may hear from them in about two years.” If you’re interested, read the brief instructions for submitting your first page at https://killzoneblog.com/first-page-critiques-at-tkz. But if you have to wait … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 29

Hey Folks, Well, I’m officially under the weather. I thought it was just allergies. By all accounts, the season is worse this year for some reason. But mine’s developed into a full-blown (no pun intended) head cold. I did get more sleep last night than I’ve had in the past few nights combined, but it was still spotty at best. No writing today. I have one major chore that I can’t put off (clearing some drain pipes) but otherwise I plan to rest and read today. Some thoughts on the WIP….. I have two short stories in the novel/collection WIP … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, April 28

Hey Folks, Long post today. Good “Of Interest” section too. Well, another night of very little sleep for me. About 5 hours, waking up every hour to clear allergy symptoms. But every time I lay down again, the symptoms built up. Eventually I figured I might as well give up and head out to the Hovel to get some writing done. So out to the Hovel at 2 a.m. I spent about an hour doing nothing, then added around 800 words to the story I started yesterday. (I started another story two days ago, but it didn’t feel right so … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, April 26

Hey Folks, Well, another all but sleepless night, but due to my own stupidity. Something I ate, late, when I knew better. Then I spent the first few hours deflecting a crapstorm. I won’t go into it here, but I had to include that much as part of the accounting of the day. Suffice it to say I’ll be late getting out to the Hovel today. So we’ll see how that goes. *** Got to the Hovel around 9 and started a new story. Then I remembered something else I had to do up at the house, so I headed … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, April 24

Hey Folks, Great “Of Interest” section today. Don’t skip over Lee Lofland’s blog post just because maybe you aren’t a crime/police/detective writer. Using all the senses is a skill you need in ANY fiction. Topic: Aging as Excuse A young Marine Corps friend of mine recently posted on Facebook that he’s met 40 year olds who are old and 80 year olds who are young. I agree. In fact, I commented there that “I still tell people I’m 26, but I was rode hard and put away wet. Plus I have 39 years’ experience at being 26, so I’m REALLY … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 23

Hey Folks, Well, let’s start today off with a Topic: If You’re a Writer and I’m a Reader, You Owe Me Something There were a lot of good comments on James Scott Bell’s “Editing is Dying, Grunting Soon to Follow” in the Kill Zone blog. You can find the post and the comments at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/04/editing-is-dying-grunting-soon-to-follow.html. Reading the comments was an eye-opening experience. Someone, a writer no less, actually advocated for the spelling of “all right” as “alright,” which, honestly, is just laziness. It’s the same reason some folks write “enuff” instead of “enough” or “no” instead of “know” (I’m not … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 22

Hey Folks, Well, I’m posting this very early today. The sun has almost come up. (grin) Today will be a non-writing day, but some good items in “Of Interest” below. After a very short night of sleep, I still managed to get out to the Hovel early, as I’d hoped I would. I continued the current story/chapter, then hit a snag and cycled back to repair it. That took me almost to the beginning of that chapter, so I settled in and read through the whole thing, still cycling. I added a few hundred words, but not enough to count … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, April 21

Hey Folks, Well, surprises happen. Last night not long after I’d gone to bed, my wife came in to say my son and his wife and three of my grandchildren were on their way down from Flagstaff for the weekend. I got up and we got things ready. Still, I was determined to get up earlier than usual to get as much done on The Storytellers as possible. The story is really running. The structure is interesting too, as it’s developed. There’s an introductory section, which is the beginning of the overall story that wraps the novel. Then there’s a … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 20

Hey Folks, Wow. I have to admire Dean’s tenacity. He started a challenge to write 30 stories in 30 days while moving. But also, his wife, friend and life partner is physically hundreds of miles away. Even with the availability of phone calls and emails, not having the energy of that physical presence around has to be a trauma. Plus he’s giving up a beautiful home he’s lived in for a very long time. That’s a major trauma. Plus his responsibilities at WMG Publishing, and the workshops, and the emails etc. etc. ad nauseam. And on top of all that, … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, April 19

Hey Folks, Another very long post today. Get your beverage, settle in and enjoy. Way back on January 7, I started a story called “The Storytellers.” On the first trip to the Hovel this morning, I happened across it while looking for Versailles. An idea occurred to me last night, and I was going to apply it this morning. Remember yesterday I mentioned I wished I could work on both of them (Versailles and Pulp 9) back and forth? Be careful what you wish for. Curious, I opened “The Storytellers” and glanced over it. As I read, naturally, I did … Read more