KillZone Blog

The Journal: Writing Routines

In today’s Journal * Writing Ritual and Routine * Of Interest * The Numbers​​​ Writing Ritual and Routine Over on TKZ today, Sue Coletta posted an article on writing ritual and routine. Interesting post, and she asked toward the end about others’ rituals and routines. I thought mine would make a good post over here on the Journal. I rise at 2 or 3 a.m. (I take my 6-8 hours from a different part of the day), grab a mugga coffee, and walk about 150 feet to my Hovel, an adobe shack with 3-foot thick walls. That gives me the … Read more

The Journal: From B&N and Reader Kudos

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * From Barnes & Noble Press * Reader Kudos * Of Interest * The Numbers ​​​ Quotes of the Day “Lack of courage sabotages more people than lack of ability. Don’t beat yourself before you start.” Farnam Street blog “I was successful in getting published that first time because I broke the rules and created something no one else was doing.” Reavis Wortham “If you’re an author and not familiar with Writer Beware, you probably should be.” The Passive Guy From Barnes & Noble Press, in case you’re interested FREE Marketing Webinars! … Read more

The Journal: Feelin’ a Little Snarky

In today’s Journal * I can’t make this stuff up * The Perfect Society, the Perfect World * Of Interest * The Numbers Seriously, I can’t make this stuff up: “Jeff Bezos says flying in space changed his view of Earth.” from an article at Space.com Now there’s some news, eh? Sorry. Couldn’t help myself. That quote reminded me of line I heard one time in a presentation delivered by a meteorologist. He was talking about releasing weather baloons, and he actually said, “And as the balloon rises, it gets farther from the earth.” (grin) Of course, nobody’s immune to … Read more

The Journal: Rain

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Rain * I had a great deal of fun * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “Story is more important than style.” David Farland Another group of words that should be attached via sticky note to the edge of every writing computer everywhere. Right alongside “Story is more important than words.” To use a builder analogy, if words are nails and the writing computer is the hammer, Story is the Taj Mahal. “[L]ong before we dreamed of cities, I imagine we should probably have had a premonition, dreamed … Read more

The Journal: Yesterday, a Topic, and Today

In today’s Journal * Yesterday * Topic: You’ve Finished Your Novel. Now What? * Today * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, I worked on creating covers and promo docs for four novels. I’m rusty. I started creating covers around 7, then wrote the promo docs, and finally got them all uploaded to D2D and Amazon a little before noon. Then I decided to take the rest of the day off. Finally back to the novel today. Yay! Topic: You’ve Finished Your Novel. Now What? I actually saw the second item in “Of Interest” yesterday, but I waited until today … Read more

The Journal: Some Cover Design Fundamentals

In today’s Journal * Yesterday * Topic: Some Cover Design Fundamentals * Of Interest * The Numbers Yesterday, which should have been a relaxing day off, was mostly a bust. We went to a couple of estate sales over in Sierra Vista. Neither had much that we were interested in, and the other attendees at one acted as if they’d never been around other humans before. Sheesh. We shopped in the commissary too, and found some of what we needed but not all. And then I chose and ate the wrong thing for lunch, making myself ill. It was just … Read more

The Journal: Unknowingly Trying?

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: Unknowingly Trying? * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “That’s the beauty of copyright. It’s divisible. … Authors will be well served to think about protecting the rights in their characters when signing publishing contracts and licensing agreements.” IP Attorney Kathryn Goldman “The two books stalled and stalled and stalled. Each time I thought I had found a way to tell the story that I wanted to tell, I would hit another wall—or the same wall. And usually, that was because I was unknowingly trying to do … Read more

The Journal: One Writing Process

In today’s Journal * Quotes of the Day * Topic: One Writing Process * Of Interest * The Numbers Quotes of the Day “I always tell people to just let a story or a book be what it wants to be. Sometimes I even forget my own lessons.” Dean Wesley Smith “Most of the ‘wisdom’ from members feels like advice we’ve all heard over the years presented as inviolable rules. Those of you who have hung around TKZ for a while know my opinion on the rules of writing: There aren’t any. Fiction writers need only to entertain their audience. … Read more

The Journal: David Farland and a Royal Model O Typewriter

In today’s Journal * Quote of the Day * David Farland * Royal Model O * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “[E]ventually the character’s story demands to be told in full.” David Farland If you get David Farland’s newsletter, you recently received one titled “Writing Your Series, Part 3.” But if you go to Farland’s Writing Tips blog, it doesn’t seem to be up yet. Actually, it is. So are Parts 1 through 6. But they were originally written in 2014. So to see the entire series of posts on “Writing Your Series,” visit https://mystorydoctor.com/?s=Writing+your+series. There … Read more

The Journal: Are You Like Me?

In today’s Journal * Are you like me? * Of Interest * The Numbers Are you like me? Do you wake up each morning with a child-like desire to get dressed and race past breakfast (and the surprised look on your mother’s face) and out the front door to play with your friends? It’s an exciting game, but it ran long yesterday. When the sun started to fade in the west, you had to stop and go inside, “wash up,” and eat supper. But the game was far from over at that point. Still carrying the fire of the game, … Read more