The Digital Reader

The Journal, Monday, 10/2

Hey Folks, First and foremost, my heart goes out to the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas, and my unbridled rage to the shooter. Damn him. Rolled out way late this morning. Almost 5 a.m. That’s a couple of hours late for me. Partly though it was a choice. As I work toward snapping off my cigar-smoking habit at the end of this week, the later I get up the easier it will be to smoke fewer cigars per day so my current stash will last through Friday. I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see the little monsters … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 9/27

Hey Folks, First, for any veterans out there, beginning on November 11, 2017, the online Exchange System (PX) is open to all veterans who served honorably regardless of length of service. Note that this is only the ONLINE exchange. Still, they lists tons of stuff, and it isn’t all high-ticket merchandise. Great discounts. To qualify, visit https://www.shopmyexchange.com/veterans. Again, you don’t have to have a current ID card, and you don’t have to have retired. *** Also too important to be shuffled down to the “Of Interest” section… Much as I (and other amateur photogs) like to think we can always … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 9/25

Hey Folks, “Many would-be novelists never get around to writing a novel for the same reason nobody ever gets around to eating an elephant. “Wrong focus. To eat an elephant, you have to take one bite at a time. Focus on the bite. “It seems impossible to write a whole novel, but you can write a scene. So just write a scene. Then write another scene. Then write another one. Forget about writing a ‘novel.’ Lather, rinse, repeat.” I posted that to FB this morning, spurred by my 15 year old granddaughter’s complaint (via email) that her teacher had assigned … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 9/22

Hey Folks, Rolled out on time this morning, then spent an enjoyable hour or so talking via email with my young granddaughter, Taylor. By the way, just in time for my topic today (see below) DWS is finally back to busting myths with another Killing the Sacred Cows chapter. It’s in “Of Interest” today. Topic: Lying to Readers It’s annoying when Dean Wesley Smith is SO right on everything he says. Well, on most things. He does occasionally say he’s going to make me angry when he’s busting some idiotic myth, but that has yet to happen. But on the … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 9/21

Hey Folks, Up a little late this morning. I’ll work on the edit for awhile, then on the yard for awhile, then maybe go play with the novel. Edited ’til about 8:20, then mowed the front (north) yard and around the north and east sides outside the fence. Back to the edit a little after 9 while I’m cooling down from doing actual work. (grin) Also running a couple loads of laundry. Worked on the edit until 10, and now off to fold laundry and put another load in the dryer. While that was working, I mowed a little more, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 9/20

Hey Folks, I had a copyediting job come in, so I decided I’ll work on that during the early morning hours. I seem to do most of my own writing in the late morning and early afternoon anyway. Worked on the copyedit (an excellent memoir) for a few hours, then to the repair shop to pick up my no-longer-busted lawnmower, then back here. I should have gone straight to the novel, but I didn’t. I played with creating a new meme that has a half-crazy pic of yours truly. I posted it to Facebook. That was fun. Now to fetch … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 9/18

Hey Folks, Rolled out considerably early this morning, yet two hours later I’m still reading and toying with this thing. I even wrote a topic based on the article on Comic Sans typeface referenced in “Of Interest.” Then I remembered that a longer, more well-thought-out version will hit the big blog on October 3, so I’ll wait. Well, my eyes are a little fuzzy this morning for some reason. I’ve tried polarized (brown) shades, my regular grey-tinted glasses, and a cheap pair of flip-up blue blockers I bought on eBay. The last few days my eyes haven’t been bad, but … Read more

The Journal, Friday, 9/15

Hey Folks, Welp, I started the day closer to my usual time. I read a lot (see “Of Interest”) and then checked Dean’s site. Much of his post for today is a rehash of the previous couple of days, so it didn’t make “Of Interest,” but parts of it keyed something in me. So I wrote the topic for today. Actually, I also wrote the topic for tomorrow (I won’t count those words until tomorrow). I had so much fun with the latter, I decided to cross post that one to the main blog where it will appear on September … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 9/12

Hey Folks, Okay, I mentioned a couple of times a workshop I’m taking with Dean. It ended this morning, so here’s my report. On the Online Workshops tab of his website, the title (if you want to read about it) is officially “Writing Mysteries.” If you’re interested, I encourage you to read the writeup there. First, I found that the actual workshop more than nailed the description on the website. This is an actual writing workshop. He teaches you how to write mysteries in the ten most popular subgenres. Plus there are extensive notes on writing Thrillers (used to be … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 8/30

Hey Folks, Not a lot to talk about today. I started the day a little late. Still catching up on my sleep, I guess. I made my rounds of the Internet. DWS is back, mostly. I listened to the vids from Week 4 of my current workshop and enjoyed it. A lot of meat there. I guess maybe there was a lot of meat in Weeks 2 and 3 as well, but I wasn’t as interested in those. It would depend on where your interests lie. I also received a link to my FREE copy of “Write. Publish. Repeat Conversations” … Read more