Dean Wesley Smith

The Journal, Friday, 10/20

Hey Folks, I love finding new resources, and I was handed one yesterday. A guy who represents another guy sent me a link to the second guy’s work and asked me to look it over. There are so many scams in this world, at first I thought this was just another one. It wasn’t. I looked it over briefly yesterday, then added two links to my website, one on Character Development under Writers’ Resources and one pointing to Jerry Jenkins’ website. That one’s under both Writers’ Resources and Quick Links. Then this morning I spent a couple of hours reading … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/17

Hey Folks, Well, I emailed DWS yesterday about CreateSpace closing their online store. He wrote, “Saw it. No books ever sold out of there anyway, so no great loss.” So there’s another take on it for you. *** I was going to recommend James Scott Bell’s column over at The Kill Zone Blog, but I decided not to. The title is “Use NaNoWriMo to Repo Your Mojo.” All well and good. But if you go look it up on your own, PLEASE take it with a huge grain of salt. I’m glad NaNoWriMo exists, and I’m glad so many people … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 10/8

Hey Folks, Not a lot to see here today. I thought I might return to the story today, but I’m not going to. It’s been a tiring and emotional day, just family stuff. Two big-deal (to me) baseball games coming on, so I’m gonna watch those. Back tomorrow. Of Interest See Dean’s “Anthology Workshop Surprise” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/anthology-workshop-surprise/. If you write short fiction, you could potentially earn enough from sales to editors at this workshop to make back your investment. Just sayin’. Fiction Words: XXXX Nonfiction Words: 100 (Journal) So total words for the day: 100 Writing of Pulp Novel 5 … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 10/6

Hey Folks, Well, another long post, but one I think you’ll find is worth it. First, while searching for something else, I ran across an article titled “Master of Magic Realism Harvey Stanbrough is Offering a Free Short from His Collection of Cantina Tales.” You can see the brief article at https://davidjrodger.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/master-of-magic-realism-harvey-stanbrough-is-offering-a-free-short-from-his-collection-of-cantina-tales/. I remembered I had left a ‘thank you’ note in a comment below the article. I never received a reply or a follow-up comment. This morning I clicked the home page of that WordPress.com site, and I learned that David J. Rodger passed away the same day that … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 10/4

Hey Folks, Well, this is a long post. Awhile back, Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader mentioned that soon Google will begin prioritizing sites (in search results) that are secure (https vs. http). As a result, I was going to spend part of the day today converting my main website over to https. But the more I read, the more I suspect SSL is primarily a necessity for monetized sites, which mine is not. Everything on the site itself is free, and anything that can be ordered goes through a secure site elsewhere: Amazon, B&N, PayPal, etc. The cost involved … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/3

Hey Folks, Rolled out on time this morning and went through my usual routine, albeit in 47 degree weather. It wouldn’t be bad, but there was a light breeze. Brrr. For my first sojourn outside this morning I was in sweatpants, a long-sleeved thermal shirt, and a thick, hooded zip-up sweat shirt. (grin) It wasn’t pretty, but it was dark, so…. And to think when I was living in Indiana I was running around outside without even a t-shirt on in 30 degree weather. Of course, I was wearing pants ’cause the cops get picky over stuff like that. After … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 9/28

Hey Folks, Well, I can recommend about 2/3 of James Scott Bell’s book on “dazzling dialogue.” I picked up a couple of things from it. If you buy it, I strongly recommend you don’t read the section on punctuation. Sorry to have to say, but the guy has no idea what he’s talking about in that regard. None. Much of what he writes in the last segment of that book (from the bit on punctuation to the end) is actually harmful. The section rekindled within me the desire to update Punctuation for Writers and publish a new edition. I’ll be … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 9/24

Hey Folks, Rolled out on time this morning, spent some time waking up, then hammered out around 1500 words by about 7:30. Some time off for family stuff now, and back to the novel later in the day. Around 10, back to the novel. Another break around 11, then some baseball and back to the novel. Turned out to be a pretty good day, especially for a Sunday. Back tomorrow. Of Interest More comments on Dean’s Sacred Cows post at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/killing-the-sacred-cows-of-publishing-beta-readers-help-you/#comments. To see the new stuff, scroll down to K. Vale Nagle. Via The Passive Voice, see “7 Free Online … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 9/23

Hey Folks, Rolled out a little late this morning even though I went to bed on time. Catching up, I guess. I actually wrote a little on the novel (after breakfast the usual early morning wandering around the Internet), but my wife’s ready to head for SV soon, so it’s a shower and a shave and be back in a bit. Well, “a bit” turned into about five hours. Then Internet to square away a botched order, etc. Finally back to the novel at 1:40. Back tomorrow. Of Interest I recommend reading the comments on “Beta Readers” at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/killing-the-sacred-cows-of-publishing-beta-readers-help-you/#comments/. And … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 9/22

Hey Folks, Rolled out on time this morning, then spent an enjoyable hour or so talking via email with my young granddaughter, Taylor. By the way, just in time for my topic today (see below) DWS is finally back to busting myths with another Killing the Sacred Cows chapter. It’s in “Of Interest” today. Topic: Lying to Readers It’s annoying when Dean Wesley Smith is SO right on everything he says. Well, on most things. He does occasionally say he’s going to make me angry when he’s busting some idiotic myth, but that has yet to happen. But on the … Read more