I can’t find the reference right now, but someone, somewhere wrote–and I quoted it quite recently: “You don’t learn how to write a book. You just learn how to write the book you are writing.” I wish I could remember who said it, and if I am getting the words exactly right, but you get … More It Doesn’t Get Any Easier
Lost Civilizations: 10 Societies that Vanished Without a Trace by Michael Rank. Five Minute Books. 103 pages. In the interest of total transparency, this was another one of those books I picked up (1) because I was researching for a book I was writing and (2) because it was free through Amazon Prime. On the … More Review: “Lost Civilizations” by Michael Rank
In all the recent focus on getting The Key of Solomon started, I almost forgot to tell you about a giveaway for Salome’s Charger happening on Goodreads. In case you didn’t know, Salome’s Charger is the prequel to The Key of Solomon, co-authored by top-notch writer Celeste perrino Walker, and she’s the one giving away … More Heads Up: It’s Giveaway Time
I love it when I am obsessed with a story I’m writing. My wife? Not so much. I call it being in the zone. Obsession leads to loads and loads of productivity. My wife calls it being zombified. That’s the time when she can’t keep an adult conversation going with me because my mind is … More Sacred Hours
I’ve always wondered about those authors who state that the day after they finish writing a novel they sit down at the keyboard and start typing the next one. It goes hand-in-glove with the idea of just sitting down and looking at a blank piece of paper, and letting that lead you into your story. … More Baptism By Immersion
Back in the early 80s, I wrote my first book. And I almost didn’t write it, simply because I didn’t believe in myself. I did get as far as writing a query letter to three book publishers, telling them what I had in mind, and asking them if they were interested. All three of them … More Nobody Cares If You Don’t
Strands of Sorrow (Book 4 in the Black Tide Rising Series) by John Ringo. Baen Books. 472 pages. This is the final book in the series I’ve been reading and reviewing about the Smith family and how they survived the zombie apocalypse. The title, Strands of Sorrow, made me think, oh no, one of the … More Review: “Strands of Sorrow” by John Ringo
Years ago…I mean eons ago, when I was in grade school…I used to change what I was going to do with my life from day to day. One day it would be a fireman, the next an archeologist, the next a soldier. It wasn’t until I got into high school that I started dabbling with … More Getting My Research Hat On
Journalism Today: A Themed History by Jane L. Chapman and Nick Nuttall. Wiley-Blackwell. 338 pages. Unless you’re a journalism nut like I am or one of my sad students who will be getting this book as a final exam in a week, you will probably not be reading this book. To be honest, we dug … More Review: “Journalism Today: A Themed History” by Chapman and Nuttall
Islands of Rage and Hope (Black Tide Rising Book 3) by John Ringo. Baen Books. 528 pages. I may have been a bit unfair in my review of John Ringo’s second book in the Black Tide Rising series, To Sail a Darkling Sea, when I gave it two stars out of five possible recently. The … More Review: “Islands of Rage and Hope” by John Ringo
The Great Adventure 