Lee Lofland

The Journal, Monday, September 17

Hey Folks, A lot in “Of Interest” today. Be sure to check it out. Not a lot going on at the Stanbrough camp today. Mostly I’m just writing, cycling, and writing some more. The babies are all behaving themselves, so today is mostly about the writing process. I rolled out a little early this morning, mostly so I’ll be tired early this evening so I’ll get up early (to write) tomorrow. I have a medical test in Tucson tomorrow, a prelude to getting my pacemaker swapped out, so tomorrow afternoon will be gone. Hence I have to get any writing … Read more

The Journal, Friday, September 14

Hey Folks, My buddy Dan Baldwin dropped by from Mesa (a 3-hour trip, much thanks Dan) this morning for coffee, a good cigar and a little philosophy slathering. Of course, we talked about writing too. While I was waiting for him to arrive, I decided to cycle back through the last part of my WIP. Almost two hours later, I finally realized maybe it would be better to just forget it for awhile. (grin) As I mentioned before, we’re going through a bit of a life roll out here. It’s some medical stuff that will be partially resolved sometime (we … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, August 29

Hey Folks, Via The Passive Voice, the author of an article at Fast Company states one of the goals of a “3D novel” she wrote was to articulate “some of our generation’s concerns in the sense of … how can we find a future worth living for.” That got my curmudgeonly hackles up. Maybe because I’ve always had one foot in my father’s generation and one in my own. Maybe because I’ve been close to death a few times. Maybe because I think manufactured-drama is a silly way to shore up your own sense of self-esteem. Yawn, stretch. Yeah, well, … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, August 28

Hey Folks, A new, educational quote about writing, especially for any beginning writers and rewriters out there: “If you write one story [or novel], it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.” — Edgar Rice Burroughs *** Well, I wrote some today. But I had a thing, a clingy thing, in the back of my mind, bugging me. I was supposed to receive a UPS package (cigars) yesterday, but coincidentally, yesterday was the day our road (an alley, really) was closed as workers were putting in a new gas line and something … Read more

The Journal, Friday, August 24

Hey Folks, Well, if you publish your books to print, don’t miss “Of Interest” today. Extremely important news. It’s been awhile since I stopped taking my books to print, so I was behind the curve on this one. Please spread the news to any other writers or writers groups you know of. *** Out to the Hovel a little late. I got a two short, disjointed sessions done, then one good third session and wound up with just over 2000 words of fiction on the day. But I’m feeling a little under the weather so I’ll cut my losses and … Read more

The Journal, Friday, August 17

Hey Folks, A day or two ago in “Of Interest” I mentioned an essay by former US Poet Laureate Donald Hall. He also has two books of essays available. One is mentioned in the article I referenced. If you’d like to get the books, I recommend buying them from Amazon. The publisher sells them both, but the price is marked up. You can get A Carnival of Losses: Notes Nearing Ninety (hardcover) from Amazon for only $19, and Essays After Eighty (paperback) is available for only $10.84, both brand new. I’m not sure why traditional publishers are so upside down … Read more

The Journal, Monday, July 23

Hey Folks, A Brief Memoir with a Point When my dad passed away around 30 years ago, I was thrilled to find some of his writings in an old suitcase. It wasn’t a suitcase full of manuscripts or anything like that. The suitcase was an old two-tone brown pressboard affair. It had a kind of fishnet container stretched across the inside of the lid. Inisde were old New Mexico State Police shoulder patches, an old pair of glasses and other things. And inside that fishnet area were a few poems typed on an old manual Remington. Dad never talked about … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, May 16

Hey Folks, First session today, I hit only a little over 1200 words. If I didn’t have an edit to do, I might finish my WIP today, but I think I’ll stick to the schedule of switching from one to the other. One problem with writing my own stuff while I’m editing for someone else is that I’m tempted to stay in the chair longer than I should when I’m writing. I feel pressured (a little) to get as much writing done as I can. That was the case this morning. This morning I got to the Hovel at 8:30 … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, May 15

Hey Folks, Tom Wolfe once said, “I do novels a bit backward. I look for a situation, a milieu first, and then I wait to see who walks into it.” May he rest in peace. Be sure to see today’s “Of Interest.” A lot of good stuff there. Another copyedit came in, and from a writer for whom I’ve copyedited before. It’s great fun watching a writer improve at storytelling. I’m looking forward to the story. So I’ll be doing that for awhile in addition to finishing the novel/story collection. Topic: An Update on Process Writing my own current WIP … Read more

The Journal, Friday, May 11

Hey Folks, Wow. I woke up jonesing to get back to writing today. The marketing webinar was great yesterday, but I’ll have to go over it again. It was a ton of information, and they probably needed 3 or 4 hours (or longer) for a proper presentation. They flew through it, not even showing all the slides they’d prepared (but those are all included in the actual video). If you missed yesterday’s Journal, the link to that video is https://youtu.be/2XTd9NcgWWc. As an added bonus, you can dowload the slides they used in the video at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GC3CZUCVQqDN0P7iuLJ44qo9xpkXoqAK/view. (When you get there, … Read more