the writing life

The Journal, Sunday, May 6

Hey Folks, Just nothing happening yesterday. Went to bed late, got up late, no writing, so a day off and no Journal. This morning I rolled out late too. Got out to the Hovel at around 8:30, and played a few games of spider. Then a name popped into my head. Ronald Jackson. Just a name and an image of a guy in a suit about to walk through his front door into his house. I opened the novel, typed in Ronald Jackson, and kept typing. With one short break, by 11:40 I’d written “Excesses,” the next short story in … Read more

The Journal, Friday, May 4

Hey Folks, Draft2Digital, the distributor through which I distribute most of my books, is hosting a FREE webinar on May 10 on Marketing. This should be great advice for marketing both ebooks and paper books. It will be presented by Kevin Tumlinson, who’s a best-selling author in his own right and the marketing director for D2D. I urge you to sign up (registration is required for attendance) and attend. To register for your free ticket(s), click https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-create-a-proper-marketing-plan-for-your-next-book-tickets-45685445397. *** I’ve decided to retitle The Storytellers. It’s, uh… evolved. In a play on the syllable count in the song title “Like Desperados … 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, Wednesday, May 2

Hey Folks, Hmmm… The May 1 edition of the Journal didn’t go out for some reason. My apologies. I posted it, but apparently MailChimp didn’t disseminate it. Of interest in yesterday’s edition, possibly, I delineated the difference between the Writer and the Author, with a stellar example. You can see the post at http://hestanbrough.com/the-journal-tuesday-may-1/. Anyway, this SNAFU with the Journal prompted me to make two major changes, as follows: Of Interest Section — From now on, for an entry to make it into the “Of Interest” section it will have to pass two tests: 1. I believe it’s valuable information, … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, May 1

Hey Folks, Well, day 3 or 4, still sick. I can literally feel the writing days and hours slipping away, and I have to tell you, it’s annoying. I went out to the Hovel this morning and managed about 500 words in two hours. That while alternately wiping my watering eyes, repeatedly blowing my nose, etc. Maddening. I’ll wait to report those words when I’m back actually writing. Accomplishing a half-hour’s work over a 2-hour period is not something to brag about. So I’m gonna spend the balance of today like I spent much of yesterday, trying to be patient … Read more

The Journal, Monday, April 30

Hey Folks, Well, I’m gonna end the month with a fizzle. No writing again today. Still a little under the weather this morning. I have to get through this bug, whatever it is. *** In other news, I got an interesting email from a writer who said he’d sent for a first-page critique. I assume he sent it to the folks at Kill Zone blog. He wrote “judging from the list, I may hear from them in about two years.” If you’re interested, read the brief instructions for submitting your first page at https://killzoneblog.com/first-page-critiques-at-tkz. But if you have to wait … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, April 29

Hey Folks, Well, I’m officially under the weather. I thought it was just allergies. By all accounts, the season is worse this year for some reason. But mine’s developed into a full-blown (no pun intended) head cold. I did get more sleep last night than I’ve had in the past few nights combined, but it was still spotty at best. No writing today. I have one major chore that I can’t put off (clearing some drain pipes) but otherwise I plan to rest and read today. Some thoughts on the WIP….. I have two short stories in the novel/collection WIP … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, April 28

Hey Folks, Long post today. Good “Of Interest” section too. Well, another night of very little sleep for me. About 5 hours, waking up every hour to clear allergy symptoms. But every time I lay down again, the symptoms built up. Eventually I figured I might as well give up and head out to the Hovel to get some writing done. So out to the Hovel at 2 a.m. I spent about an hour doing nothing, then added around 800 words to the story I started yesterday. (I started another story two days ago, but it didn’t feel right so … 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, Thursday, April 26

Hey Folks, Well, another all but sleepless night, but due to my own stupidity. Something I ate, late, when I knew better. Then I spent the first few hours deflecting a crapstorm. I won’t go into it here, but I had to include that much as part of the accounting of the day. Suffice it to say I’ll be late getting out to the Hovel today. So we’ll see how that goes. *** Got to the Hovel around 9 and started a new story. Then I remembered something else I had to do up at the house, so I headed … Read more