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Don’t Answer Every Question

March 12, 2012
Question mark by Stephen Heron (www.flickr.com/photos/sbh)

While I’ve been busy juggling work, writing, and life, I’ve decided to set A Magic Life aside and write a novel that’s not so demanding of deep attention. Like Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors, this novel was a screenplay first, which means I have one hell of an outline to work from and no reason [...]

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Mark Hosack’s Identity Problem

March 8, 2012
Mark Hosack's Identity.

While I have a bit of a hard time speaking up for my own writing, I have no problems promoting others doing things I like and believe in. Meet Mark Hosack The first time I met Mark Hosack I thought, “Okay, maybe my haircut ISN’T so bad after all!” It was a kickoff meeting for [...]

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Kickstarting a Relaunch

March 6, 2012
Grumpy Al's.

On Sunday, I mentioned that I did a very poor job promoting Hell Comes with Wood Paneled Doors (HCWWPD). I tossed it out there and that was that. The interesting thing about the Internet is writers have a chance to follow up with promoting things. Used to be — a book came out and there [...]

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Promoting Your Writing

March 4, 2012
Speakers on a pole.

It’s not too hard to put out an e-book. Sure, it takes work to write a novel, but as far as turning that into an e-book — even I figured it out pretty fast. The tough thing is promoting what you’re doing. There, I can do much better. A Couple Cases Shawn Kupfer Shawn Kupfer [...]

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A Difference in Ideas

March 2, 2012
Lightbulb.

In Ann Pratchett’s The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life (affiliate link) (my review), she mentions that she’s not particularly fond of parties. It’s at parties where it inevitably happens: somebody approaches her and says something along the lines of, “I have an idea for a book — would you like to [...]

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The Crystal Ball (Is a Big Maybe)

March 1, 2012
Crystal Ball.

During my 101-day social media break, I cut back on the number of blogs in my blog reader. But one category always seems to grow, despite my best intentions of taming it: my “Writing/Publishing” category. On any given day, all kinds of information comes through — much of it about the future of publishing. “E-books [...]

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The Company of Other Writers

February 28, 2012
Birds gathering on wires.

Paul Lamb recently chatted on his blog about craving fellowship with like-minded writers. For years, more every other Wednesdays than not, I met with two friends for a writing group. We kept it small by design, and while it lasted, it was a very good thing. Since the group has dissolved, I find satisfaction in [...]

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The Importance of Stories

February 23, 2012
Dreamy Bubbles.

If you’ve ever doubted how important a story can be to somebody, watch this (NSFW: some swearing): The quick version of the story: A guy’s friend has terminal cancer and may be dead by June. So the guy jumps online and explains that it would mean so much if his friend could find out how [...]

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The Book Pile: A Good American

February 20, 2012
Cover of Alex George's A Good American.

I’ve been following Alex George’s blog for awhile, now. I always appreciate the quiet manner in which Alex talks about writing. Okay, perhaps “quiet” isn’t the right word: Alex is just a humble guy who truly appreciates those who stop by or pick up his writing. In a time when the tone of some authors [...]

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The End(ing)

February 16, 2012
Cover of Craig Thompson's Habibi.

Graphic novels are one of my favorite things in the world. Words combined with pictures — and all that happens in between the panels — is an amazing thing. Some days I’m not sure there’s a more perfect medium. Fairly recently, I reviewed Craig Thompson’s Habibi, which — to me — is the perfect graphic [...]

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