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The Daily Journal, Friday, February 1

Hey Folks, In today’s Journal ▪ The Full Version of the Journal Is Back (topic). ▪ For those interested in the challenge ▪ Situation Solved released today ▪ Looking for a first reader ▪ The daily diary ramblings ▪ Of Interest ▪ The numbers Topic: The Full Version of the Journal Is Back The excerpted version of the Journal was an experiment, as I said up front. Turns out it was a failed experiment. The specific purpose was to get readers to go to the website. Those who read in email don’t often go to the website to leave a … Read more

The Daily Journal, Thursday, January 31

Hey Folks, Probably my best day of writing fiction ever. (grin) Today we have an absolute must-read as the first item in “Of Interest.” Read it a few times, even. Be sure you understand it. Especially you younger writers who have the potential for a long-term (20+ years). Plus there’s a lot more in “Of Interest” and a short topic today. Today is a built-in short day for me (ends around noon) so I’m in the Hovel early today. Topic: Writing in Challenges and What’s Truly “Special” Be sure to see Dean’s new challenge (the second item in “Of Interest”). … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, January 30

Hey Folks, Another pretty good “Of Interest” section and a topic on one way to lose readers. Be careful out there. Topic: One Way to Lose Readers I wasted a lot of time today writing a lengthy topic (around 1500 words) that, in the end, seemed inane to me. So I trashed it. The words weren’t “wasted” though because they brought me to this. So I’ll just say a few quick things, because my main job is to tell stories, to entertain, and I want to get back to it. My secondary job is to pass along what I know … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, January 29

Hey Folks, A rather troubling topic today, one of those things for which, before you pick it up, you should pull on a pair of latex gloves. And so much in “Of Interest” that I almost want to apologize. A thought struck me last night. Things are looking good so far for the challenge. I’m almost certain to finish this one before February 4, putting me ahead of schedule once again and keeping spare days in the safe. *** Topic: Crap, This Is All About Racism and (Other Forms of) Prejudice Racism, bias and prejudice, whether intentional or subconscious, run … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, January 28

Hey Folks, Some amazing stuff in “Of Interest” today, and maybe a topic on a new writing exercise you can try. But first to the novel. I rolled out a little late this morning, and I’m anxious to get to it. (grin) Though I did take a brief side-trip to share an excerpt from it on Facebook this morning. Topic A New Excercise to Try A few years ago, when I first became convinced one of the most important components of a story is the opening, I designed an exercise for myself. I wasn’t in the middle of a novel … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, January 27

Hey Folks, Be sure to click through and read the whole post. Some great “Of Interest” items, not to mention a topic and the other stuff. Yesterday, Scott Thrall commented that he hopes Dean keeps drinking the water in Vegas that’s making him go nuts with prizes for his KickStarter campaign. Apparently he drank another tall glass. Read about it in “Of Interest.” A great deal, not to be missed. *** Topic: Are You a Self-Saboteur? Have you ever sabotaged yourself? I don’t mean with the usual conscious mind stuff: doubting your abilities, feeling you’re a pretender, worrying about where … Read more

The Daily Journal, Wednesday, January 23

Hey Folks, NOTE: You’ll get this one late by a couple of hours. Tomorrow it will be back at its normal time. Rolled out at 3 this morning after a good night’s sleep. To the Hovel shortly afterward where I visited some sites that are new to me and did the “Of Interest” thing. One of those new sites is of former traditionally published, now indie-published, romance writer Terry Odell. I didn’t find anything there today for “Of Interest” but that doesn’t mean you won’t find something there that rings your personal bell. Check it out at https://terryodell.com/. Or go … Read more

The Daily Journal, Tuesday, January 22

Hey Folks, First, thanks to my new donor and the first person to take advantage of my Patronage program. Thanks, Scott T! This morning during my wake-up period, I remembered a friend wrote me recently to request a “Search this site” feature on my website. She wanted to see whether I’d talked about Digital Rights Management, but didn’t find it in the tag cloud at the bottom of the site or anywhere else. That request served initially as a catalyst for my brief topic on DRM a couple of days ago. This morning, I added a search feature to both … Read more

The Daily Journal, Monday, January 21

Hey Folks, Update: I talked with Mark Alpert via email. He did not take down his post at the Kill Zone blog. According to Alpert, unspecified others at TKZ took it down because it was “too political.” I can understand that, given that the stated purpose of the blog is to provide “Insider perspectives from top thriller and mystery writers.” But I still don’t like censorship. Oddly, I lost a long-time (over a year) subscriber yesterday too. I believe she left because of my response. Possibly I wrote too much re the Alpert column. I can’t apologize for that. This … Read more

The Daily Journal, Sunday, January 20

Hey Folks, My apologies if you went looking for Mark Alpert’s post on “The Ultimate Taboo: Killing The President” at the Kill Zone blog yesterday. I went back this morning to see whether he replied to my comment, and apparently he’d taken the post down. It wasn’t there. That was not my intention. Free speech is perhaps the most important freedom guaranteed by our Consititution, and I value it even when I disagree with the speaker. That’s why I passed along the link to Mr. Alpert’s post in the first place. If you didn’t get to read it, in the … Read more