Every writer has heard of them. Some of us have begged for them. We've even groaned and considered running away when we've seen them. I'm talking about story prompts. They can take many forms, everything from a short scene description to character description to a line from the news and more. They can help get... Continue Reading →
Stuck in the middle… with your reader
Clowns to the left of me... I always thought of myself as one of the jokers (because jokers are wild) but as that's as may be. What I was actually thinking about was 'in media res' which is not being in the traditional lands of the media-tribe, (I stand corrected.) but 'in the middle'. It's... Continue Reading →
Chernobyl, Episode 3: Now you look like the Minister of Coal
Last week's continuation of my series on the epic disaster drama Chernobyl spent a lot of time focusing on the power structure of the former Soviet Union, and how this power structure rippled destructively down into the lives of the men who not only caused the reactor catastrophe in the first place, but then also... Continue Reading →
The Writing Desert
This is what I feel like right now. My well of words has dried up, and I'm traveling through a writing desert in search of something that will let me tap back into that spring. Thing is, some of this is self-inflicted stoppage and I'm not going to give up work (more on that in... Continue Reading →
Miscellaneous thoughts about writing
This is going to be a stream-of-consciousness sort of post. Over the past few weeks I've been heavily involved in editing; planned and made a start on a brand-new series (so far including a huge amount of research and only a little writing); and spent a few days with a scratched cornea, which made extended... Continue Reading →
Mangling The Spaces
Everyone here has done it: it's the natural thing to do when you read poetry - or anything sufficiently like poetry. You come to the end of the line, and you pause. In a lot of poetry, that's how it's supposed to work. Limericks would never have the impact they do (or be as memorable)... Continue Reading →
SOME days tHERE are No words
Or at least some days there are no answers. There are, however, lots and lots of questions. Everyone tells us that if we aspire to write well we must understand people. Sometimes I wonder if that's true, or even if it's possible for us to understand other people. I pretty much treat them like enigmas... Continue Reading →
Code Name Igor
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DFPD38V Finally kicked it out the door. Still working on the wraparound cover, but the print version will show up. . . soon.
You Don’t Say. . .
Just a quick post this morning. If you've been following my personal blog, you know I'm dealing with a shoulder injury that makes keyboarding "interesting". Since I'm on the final push to get Victory from Ashes ready for release, I'm trying to limit keyboarding to that. But never fear, I have found a couple of... Continue Reading →
Trust
Trust is a valuable coin. One we seldom think about when we have people's trust, until we don't. Regaining that trust is very, very hard task. All too often, too hard. And even if you regain part of it, well, doubt remains, and you'll lose even that trust, really quickly. The second time... it's like... Continue Reading →