Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The Journal, Thursday, May 31

Hey Folks, I keep hammering away at this. But as an instructor, I know some folks “get it” when they hear information one way, and some get it when they hear it another way or from another source. With that in mind, see Kris Rusch’s “Business Musings: An Agent Nightmare Revealed” at https://kriswrites.com/2018/05/30/business-musings-an-agent-nightmare-revealed/. Yep. It’s so important I added it to the main body of the Journal. And shared it with several writer groups on FB. *** Today should be a writing day, and it probably will be. It might be a percolation day. A percolation day is a day … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, May 24

Hey Folks, Only four days left on the Special Time of Great Forgetting Offer at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/long-day/ (and scroll down to the second bold headline). I want to do this so badly I can barely stand it. Unfortunately, I’ve taken so many workshops there aren’t 4 left (currently) that I want to take. My loss. This is a great value and a great investment in yourself and your writing. $900 worth of training for $500. Check it out. *** Out to the Hovel late at 8:30. I spent some time looking through some of the stuff I started when I was … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, May 22

Hey Folks, Rolled out at 3:30 this morning and went straight to an online workshop. Finished that (6 weeks’ worth) around 9:15. Then I started my daily rounds of the Internet and putting this edition of the Journal together. Finally out to the Hovel at 10:30. I started cycling through the novel again from about the midway point, touching only the intermissions. I took a break around 11:20, then again around 12:15. In the final session I wrote very little and only changed a few names, mostly with a global search. Today actually felt more like work than fun. But … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, May 3

Hey Folks, Well, I saw that MailChimp added the May 1st post to the May 2nd post. Weird. In his post today, Dean’s hawking a new writing-book bundle Kris put together. Even if you’re otherwise not interested, this one includes The Heinlein’s Rules lecture. That alone is worth the money for the bundle if you haven’t heard that lecture. Just sayin’. See https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/writing-books-bundle-and-lecture/. Yesterday I reported writing over 6000 words of fiction in what was my personal biggest day ever. This morning I went back and double checked. It was difficult for me to believe that total. Honestly, I felt … Read more

The Journal, Friday, April 27

Hey Folks, Well, when I started the current WIP, I thought I might finish it by the end of the month. The numbers added up about right. But it wasn’t so much a goal as something I thought I would probably do. Now I don’t think that’s going to happen. I had a couple of nights under the weather with very little sleep, and then a minor life roll reared it’s ugly attitude yesterday. So my production’s dropped. I had a light writing day yesterday, and another one today. I’m so emotionally and mentally spent that I decided not to … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, April 25

Hey Folks, Well, I guess I’m nothing if not an experimenter. It would be more than easy for me to take a day off today and do nothing but read and maybe even nap. I don’t nap. And I don’t mean as a general rule. I mean at all. I guard against it. I shudder at the thought. The inability to avoid napping, for me personally, will signal the beginning of old age. Had a rough night. I doubt I got more than two hours’ sleep in total. And I checked the clock every time I woke up, or had … 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, Friday, April 13

Hey Folks, Sometimes it feels specifically like I make plans so I’ll have something to change later. Remember how I said a few days ago I was going to write in the early morning and then edit later in the day? Yeah. I worked on my WIP for a few minutes this morning, just enough to put my hand in. Then I thought about the copyedit waiting on my business computer. My gut tied in a knot. The client was even good enough to prepay the balance for the edit. Then, thankfully, I read Kris Rusch’s current Business Musings article … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, March 29

Hey Folks, A lot of good links included today. The learning truly never ends. I started the morning per usual, cycling back over what I wrote yesterday. As I went, I realized I’d left some sensory detail out of a few scenes at the beginning of chapters. That “grounding the reader” thing. It’s important. So why do I have to do that while cycling? Well, I don’t always. Most of the time I remember to ground the reader at the beginning of each major scene and chapter as I’m writing it. But that’s the value of cycling. Of being “unstuck … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, March 18

Hey Folks, Okay, from the time I awoke this morning, I decided today would be a nonwriting day. My wife and I are in the midst of straightening, rearranging and cleaning our house, and it’s actually kinda fun. Also I felt a day off might help separate my WIP and my probable next WIP from each other in my mind. As I’m writing in the former, it’s racing right along, no problem. But bits and dregs of my probable next project keep squeezing out from between the polyps in my brain. As I have only a few polyps left, I … Read more