Professional Writer Series

The Journal, Tuesday, February 27

Hey Folks, Guess it’s a good thing I got off my fanny yesterday with only three days left in the month (two now). (grin) It’s good to be writing again, playing with my little imaginary friends. I have other things I have to get done today, but I plan to write as well. *** Well, I ended up doing those other things instead of writing. I did write a little, but not enough to count. And I remembered that my previous novel, Keeper of the Promise, was not yet published. Sigh. I actually forgot about it. So I searched images, … Read more

The Journal, Monday, February 26

Hey Folks, In “Of Interest” today is an interesting article titled “Micro-Progress Your Novel.” Despite the high-falutin’ title, the article is all about eating an elephant one bite at a time. Instead of trying to “write a novel” (which the author of the post calls a “daunting prospect”), the idea is to set a series of smaller goals, like writing for a particular length of time (or number of words) per day or writing a scene. Or, I suppose, simply writing the next sentence. Sound familiar? Yeah, it sounds familiar to me too. But now that the process has a … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, February 25

Hey Folks, Well, I basically took a day off yesterday. There really was nothing to report, and not even anything to shove into the “Of Interest” section. Today’s a little different, but only a little, at least thus far. Good stuff in “Of Interest.” I’m a little mired, but in a kind of good way. I have at least two fresh novels I could be writing — one SF and one probably Mystery — but a new genre in which I want to write keeps sticking in my mind. Only thing is, I’m not quite ready yet to write in … Read more

The Journal, Friday, February 23

Hey Folks, The saga continues. I looked over several Mac laptops and frankly, they were all well out of my range currently. So I finally contacted Lenovo to see whether there was a way to manually disable the trackpad, since Bill The Godfaddah Gates decided I can no longer disable it through Windows. (Actually, if Gates knew what some mindless moron did, he probably would fire the guy.) The tech said to disable the trackpad, I had to either press fn+f6 or just f6. One of those would work, he said. Neither one worked. Then he said then obviously it … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, February 22

Hey Folks, I probably shouldn’t post anything today. Prepare for a slight rant. So, any former PC users out there who now use Apple computers? I’m in the midst of enduring the umpteenth (this year) “update” from Microsoft. Like all their other updates since the inception of Windows 10, this one is mandatory. I’m not good with that. I’m not good with being told some faceless company wants to update MY property and there’s nothing I can do about it. I guess I just don’t care for suppositories. I don’t like people who do things to me that I don’t … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, February 21

Hey Folks, Well, a day of writing today I hope. Feeling a bit better I think, and not so much domestic stuff on my plate today. Just checking the PO later. I have a book coming in (grin). I’ll also have to spend some time with the kitten today. With the weather we’ve been having (extended rain and now ice cold) she hasn’t gotten to go outside much, and she is definitely a love-it-outside kind of a girl. She has that nice fur coat, but I’ve yet to find any gloves that will fit her, so I worry about her … Read more

The Journal, Monday, February 19

Hey Folks, There’s a lot of good stuff in “Of Interest” today, and this is a long post. Steel yourself. Well, my buddy and I got back a day early from camping. Actually, as rain clouds closed in, we climbed a hill, took a look at the horizon in all directions, and decided the better part of valor at the moment was retreat. (grin) So we hobbled back down to the campsite, packed up and hauled a… Um, I mean, departed the area. Sure enough, all the way back heavy rainclouds followed the Gila, west to east, off to our … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, February 15

Hey Folks, I realized today, I’ve been writing fiction over the past few days. Not a lot, relatively speaking, but as I read over my previous novel, I’ve added to it. A lot. I finished my journey over the novel this morning and it’s much better for it. That’s because I never allowed the conscious mind to intervene. I added 3895 words to it (that is now reflected in the fiction totals below), but I also realized a few things that will be important for at least the first sequel. (grin) I call this effort a revision. It was something … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, February 14

Hey Folks, Happy St. Valentine’s Day! Well, I’m learning a lot about writing thrillers from reading Jack Higgins and Lee Child. But I’m all about cutting learning curves (mine and other’s) so this morning I also signed up for Dean’s “Writing Thrillers” online workshop. It’s a classic workshop, meaning no homework, but it’s also half-price at only $150. Six weeks of instruction, and I’ll get through it in a week or so. Probably I’ll work on that whenever I need a break from prepping my latest novel for publication or working on the StoneThread Publishing website. Another good thing about … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, February 13

Hey Folks, Not sure what’s going on in my head currently. I have to slow down, I know that much. Probably today I’ll try to finish getting StoneThread Publishing up to par, and then do the necessary things to publish my previous novel. I gave up on the notion of reading it to my wife. We’re both too tired in the evenings for that sort of thing. When I do return to writing, well, I’m kind of losing interest in my WIP, The Age Exchange. Not really, but sort of. The thing is, I’m itching to write a true thriller. … Read more