the writing life

The Journal, Thursday, November 9

Hey Folks, Tomorrow marks the 242nd birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Happy Birthday and Semper Fi to any Marines out there. Sometime tomorrow, I’ll get off by myself and drink a toast (probably a shot of Beam Devil’s Cut) to those brothers and sisters who are no longer with us. To those who are still around, May your days be vibrant, your evenings calm, your heart safe and warm at home. Semper Fi *** The air is damp and chilly this morning. Probably around 40-some degrees, but damp so it feels colder. We got 3/10ths of an inch … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, November 8

Hey Folks, Well, I believe (knock on wood) the worst of the cigar madness is behind me. Something in my mind sort of snapped late yesterday, leading to a lot more clarity than I’ve enjoyed in a while. I hope it stays that way. *** I wrote for a little while, just some dialogue between two wise guys over a poker hand, something to get my hand in. One wise guy is complaining that his associates think he doesn’t understand the concept of LOL all that well. The other asks him for an example. The first one says, “Oh. Well, … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, November 7

Hey Folks, A mild morning for a change, at the cusp of 50°. If I took a photo straight up at the moon in the high mist, it would make a great horror or romance cover. Funny how those two genres can be so closley related in the images they invoke. Or maybe it isn’t. *** Well, self-publishing platform and distributor Pronoun is shutting down. See “Epilogue” at https://pronoun.com/. I never got around to using them because of the extremely condescending language on their interface. However, in other news, my preferred distributor, Draft2Digital, now distributes to Amazon. I am in … Read more

The Journal, Monday, November 6

Hey Folks, I am annoyed to no end when some machine or program thinks it knows better than I what I want. Of course, the machine can’t be held to fault. Nor, these days, can the humans behind the machines because there’s no way to contact or, ahem, engage the humans directly. Of course, if I were regularly screwing up people’s lives that much just as if it were a pleasurable past time, I wouldn’t want anyone to be able to get hold of me either. Increasingly, “updates” (ostensibly “improvements”) are foisted upon us whether or not we want them. … Read more

The Journal, Sunday, November 5

Hey Folks, Well, it’s Sunday. Not much here in the Journal today. Around here we’re breaking out our winter clothes, putting away summer stuff, etc. Generally taking the day off to do little things we don’t have to do more than a couple times a year. Doing some cleaning, some cooking, some redecorating of one wall in my office. Revisiting and adjusting the bedroom closet, stuff like that. I hope to break out tomorrow and write some fiction. But I guess we’ll see. Back tomorrow. Of Interest Not directly about writing but hilarious, see https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/d/2001-jeep-wrangler-sport-and/6351701604.html. For some reason this Journal … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, November 4

Hey Folks, In “Of Interest” below, I mention a Smashwords podcast. It’s all about how to work with beta readers. As such, it extolls the virtues of letting readers into your work and (I’ll bet) mentions none of the downsides. You all know that I often employ a first reader. That’s one avid reader who knows exactly what to look for (specific places where confusion ensues, inconsistencies, and OBVIOUS wrong-word issues IF they pop out at him) and what to leave alone (literally everything else). Sometimes, with some stories, I ask Kenneth to look for certain overall things: Is there … Read more

The Journal, Friday, November 3

Hey Folks, Yesterday after I posted the Journal, I noticed it looked as if it read “Thursday, One and One-Half.” So I’ll try to remember to spell out the month from now on. More on writing… In my ongoing mental-morphosis, I’m coming to understand more of what’s going on. Nothing. Nothing’s going on. (grin) Well, nothing sinister. Maybe. I got so used to a daily word count and then other goals that it feels odd not to be writing constantly. That’s all. I’ve become comfortable with storytelling, and comfortable with knowing stories will come. At least that’s what I think … Read more

The Journal, Thursday, 11/2

Hey Folks, Hmm… a meandering, personal-thought journey in today’s Journal…. I’ve still been thinking about challenges, but I think that’s almost over. I thought about a challenge in which I would write at least one opening per day during the month of November. If the opening took off, I’d write it. If not but if it piqued my interest, it would go into my Openings file. Either way, I’d still have to write a new opening every day. But something didn’t feel quite right about that. Mostly it felt too contrived, probably because it was. The main thing, I think, … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 11/1

Hey Folks, Wow. November already. For that matter, 2017 already. What happened to 1978? Just sayin’. I failed to mention yesterday that we had a little visitor. In the pre-dawn pitch, I was at my outside desk when I heard a sound that seemed not part of the usual early morning sounds. I grabbed my torch (I like the Brit “torch” so much better than “flashlight”) and went looking for my kitten. As I stepped past the southeast corner of the house, I shined the light to the west. Toward the southwest corner of the house, something was sniffing at … Read more

The Journal, Tuesday, 10/31

Hey Folks, Happy Hallowe’en. I’d planned to return to my WIP novel today, but didn’t. Other things took priority, but it was still a good day. No more pushing it. I’ll write when it’s time. In the meantime, a brand new bundle launched today. The Trouble Comes Calling bundle contains my mystery novel, The Platinum Blond Perturbance. You can see the ad for the bundle at the top of the left sidebar on my website. The photo will take you to the bundle page. *** “I’m not really that knowledgeable about police work. The real story is in the psychology … Read more