The Passive Voice

The Journal, Friday, 10/20

Hey Folks, I love finding new resources, and I was handed one yesterday. A guy who represents another guy sent me a link to the second guy’s work and asked me to look it over. There are so many scams in this world, at first I thought this was just another one. It wasn’t. I looked it over briefly yesterday, then added two links to my website, one on Character Development under Writers’ Resources and one pointing to Jerry Jenkins’ website. That one’s under both Writers’ Resources and Quick Links. Then this morning I spent a couple of hours reading … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 10/19

Hey Folks, Enjoyed a brief conversation with a dear friend from Dallas this morning. That was a pleasant surprise. Thanks Robert. Of course, in my current state I probably sounded grouchier than normal, though I don’t think I actually was. Part of our discussion was about my current endeavor to leave cigars behind. And in that, I’ve had an even more recent epiphany. If I had a cigar stashed away somewhere and happened across it, there’s a very good chance I would at least light it and take a couple of puffs before putting it out. Of course, that would … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/17

Hey Folks, Well, I emailed DWS yesterday about CreateSpace closing their online store. He wrote, “Saw it. No books ever sold out of there anyway, so no great loss.” So there’s another take on it for you. *** I was going to recommend James Scott Bell’s column over at The Kill Zone Blog, but I decided not to. The title is “Use NaNoWriMo to Repo Your Mojo.” All well and good. But if you go look it up on your own, PLEASE take it with a huge grain of salt. I’m glad NaNoWriMo exists, and I’m glad so many people … Read more

The Journal, Monday, 10/16

Hey Folks, Here we go. The first day of the rest of my writing life. (grin) And I’m going to start it in Sierra Vista at a brake shop. So my restart on writing might be one day late. We’ll see. In major news from the department of Well That Sucks, via The Digital Reader, see “CreateSpace to Close its Web Store” at https://the-digital-reader.com/2017/10/13/createspace-close-web-store/. Note that this estore closure does NOT affect CreateSpace’s other services. For more on that, I recommend you read the original announcement at CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/Help/Index.jsp?orgId=00D300000001Sh9&id=50139000000oxUN. The biggest immediate impact is that CS pays (well, has paid) … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, 10/15

Hey Folks, I’m really missing (fiction) writing, storytelling, and it will be good to get back to it tomorrow in whatever form it takes. For me, being immersed in a good story as it develops is like that moment when you smile and sigh as you’re sinking into a tub of hot water. It’s just that good. One more visiting day with my son and his family and one more day of baseball to see whether the Cubs will tie the series with the Dodgers. I’ll continue following the LCSs tomorrow, etc. but watching games will be secondary to writing. … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 10/5

Hey Folks, Well, another long post today. Sorry about that. (grin) It turns out I wrote quite a bit yesterday, considering. I revised the total yesterday before the Journal posted, and today’s numbers are current.  I don’t remember the last time I had such a great day as yesterday. It’s like someone turned on a light. One thing I realized was that my current WIP isn’t “just” a PI-noir novel but a PI-noir suspense novel. That’s what it was wanting to be, and that’s where I took the wrong turn. Topic: Writing Environment The post by Nate Hoffelder in “Of … Read more

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, Sunday, 9/24

Hey Folks, Rolled out on time this morning, spent some time waking up, then hammered out around 1500 words by about 7:30. Some time off for family stuff now, and back to the novel later in the day. Around 10, back to the novel. Another break around 11, then some baseball and back to the novel. Turned out to be a pretty good day, especially for a Sunday. Back tomorrow. Of Interest More comments on Dean’s Sacred Cows post at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/killing-the-sacred-cows-of-publishing-beta-readers-help-you/#comments. To see the new stuff, scroll down to K. Vale Nagle. Via The Passive Voice, see “7 Free Online … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 9/23

Hey Folks, Rolled out a little late this morning even though I went to bed on time. Catching up, I guess. I actually wrote a little on the novel (after breakfast the usual early morning wandering around the Internet), but my wife’s ready to head for SV soon, so it’s a shower and a shave and be back in a bit. Well, “a bit” turned into about five hours. Then Internet to square away a botched order, etc. Finally back to the novel at 1:40. Back tomorrow. Of Interest I recommend reading the comments on “Beta Readers” at http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/killing-the-sacred-cows-of-publishing-beta-readers-help-you/#comments/. And … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 9/19

Hey Folks, For awhile, occasionally I’ve included links to articles on Science Alert. Recently I’ve come to believe it’s more of a populist rag with sensational, click-bait headlines than a valid source of stimulating information. So I looked around. If you’re interested in space and science, try https://www.space.com/. If it looks interesting to you, you can sign up for any or all of three separate newsletters: Space.com newsletter, headlines about the space program, space tourism and more. LiveScience newsletter, the day’s science news covering space, animals, health, environment, technology and history. TechNewsDaily newsletter, technology news and information for non-geeks. If … Read more