KillZone Blog

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, January 29

Hey Folks, A rather troubling topic today, one of those things for which, before you pick it up, you should pull on a pair of latex gloves. And so much in “Of Interest” that I almost want to apologize. A thought struck me last night. Things are looking good so far for the challenge. I’m almost certain to finish this one before February 4, putting me ahead of schedule once again and keeping spare days in the safe. *** Topic: Crap, This Is All About Racism and (Other Forms of) Prejudice Racism, bias and prejudice, whether intentional or subconscious, run … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, January 28

Hey Folks, Some amazing stuff in “Of Interest” today, and maybe a topic on a new writing exercise you can try. But first to the novel. I rolled out a little late this morning, and I’m anxious to get to it. (grin) Though I did take a brief side-trip to share an excerpt from it on Facebook this morning. Topic A New Excercise to Try A few years ago, when I first became convinced one of the most important components of a story is the opening, I designed an exercise for myself. I wasn’t in the middle of a novel … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, January 26

Hey Folks, I think maybe the water in Vegas is affecting Dean’s brain. For as little as a $20 pledge to his KickStarter, you can now get a credit for a $150 classic workshop as well as two books. And at least one of those books is chock full of blog entries that can’t help but be informative. Check it out in “Of Interest.” I recommend making a $20 investment in your writing. *** Well, I bought a computer, an HP ProBook 11. It’s basically the same machine as my writing ‘puter but with a tiny, 11.6″ screen that I’ll … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, January 23

Hey Folks, NOTE: You’ll get this one late by a couple of hours. Tomorrow it will be back at its normal time. Rolled out at 3 this morning after a good night’s sleep. To the Hovel shortly afterward where I visited some sites that are new to me and did the “Of Interest” thing. One of those new sites is of former traditionally published, now indie-published, romance writer Terry Odell. I didn’t find anything there today for “Of Interest” but that doesn’t mean you won’t find something there that rings your personal bell. Check it out at https://terryodell.com/. Or go … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, January 22

Hey Folks, First, thanks to my new donor and the first person to take advantage of my Patronage program. Thanks, Scott T! This morning during my wake-up period, I remembered a friend wrote me recently to request a “Search this site” feature on my website. She wanted to see whether I’d talked about Digital Rights Management, but didn’t find it in the tag cloud at the bottom of the site or anywhere else. That request served initially as a catalyst for my brief topic on DRM a couple of days ago. This morning, I added a search feature to both … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, January 20

Hey Folks, My apologies if you went looking for Mark Alpert’s post on “The Ultimate Taboo: Killing The President” at the Kill Zone blog yesterday. I went back this morning to see whether he replied to my comment, and apparently he’d taken the post down. It wasn’t there. That was not my intention. Free speech is perhaps the most important freedom guaranteed by our Consititution, and I value it even when I disagree with the speaker. That’s why I passed along the link to Mr. Alpert’s post in the first place. If you didn’t get to read it, in the … Read more

The Daily Journal, Saturday, January 19

Hey Folks, Even though it’s a Saturday, I didn’t get up until almost 3. There’s a ball game starting at 1 that I want to watch, and if my wife wants us to do anything together, I will give that precedence. So possibly a short day today. Days like this are why it’s good to have a few days in the bank. (grin) This WIP is filled (thus far) with psychological minutae, so up to this point it’s necessarily slow going. This one will fluctuate, but I’m hopeful. The first novel in this series came in at around 53,000 words. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, January 17

Hey Folks, Oof. Rough night. The moon was big outside I guess, seeping through and around the venetian blinds that cover all our windows. So the ladies (our two cats) played tag all night. Most often the tag consisted of the tagger pouncing unnannounced and landing on the taggee as if dropped from six feet up. And most often it occurred right next to my midsection. When I am jarred awake, I usually can’t get back to sleep for an hour or so, and last night was no different. So I think I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, January 16

Hey Folks, I learned from Linda Maye Adams’ newsletter that the 2019 Superstars Seminar will run from February 7-9 this year. So I looked it up. (grin) The seminar focuses on the business side of writing, but according to the website they’ll also have a separate writing craft day on February 6. You can attend that as well, or separately. According to Christine Mandeville, the conference co-director, some sessions are full but there are a lot of extras. I recommend it. To see the lineup of instructors. the curriculum and the schedule, click http://superstarswriting.com/. To see the fees, visit http://superstarswriting.com/fees/. … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, January 15

Hey Folks, Well, Consequences released today. Woohoo! I got an email from Amazon letting me know that, so it released at D2D and Smashwords as well. I’ll upload it to BundleRabbit later today. Frankly, I’d forgotten what day it was, and at the moment I can’t remember what the story was about, except that it’s in the Nick Spalding series. How’s that for not making a particular book “special”? (grin) *** While I’m rambling, let me recommend Linda Maye Adams’ newsletter again. In it she occasionally drops a real gem. You can sign up by visiting her website at https://lindamayeadams.com/. … Read more