A day or two ago an author friend of mine on Facebook commented that she secretly enjoyed reading someone’s published work and then realizing that she could write better than they could. Well, Ingrid, you’re not alone there. Writing is a solitary, very often thankless, job. And we have to take joy wherever we can … More Secret Pleasures and Public Obligations
About six or seven years ago, I was asked to write a regular religion column for the local newspaper. It got me great local “exposure” and they didn’t care what I wrote as long as it was “religious.” The bad side of it was they didn’t pay me anything, and in the end, wouldn’t even … More Drivel
I spent the morning working on school stuff. Yes, school is over, but I am also responsible for the school’s website and the alumni magazine (what can I say? It’s a small school.). So I am trying to get at least the magazine “put to bed” this week so that my energies can be directed … More Loose ends
I’ve had many people tell me I am good at multitasking. I’m also pretty versatile. Both have come from a lifetime of (1) doing other jobs to pay bills while I feed my addiction for writing; and (2) juggling writing time with other responsibilities. I sincerely planned on doing nothing else this summer but work … More Time to Get Organicized
It seems like I am always switching gears. A little over a week ago, we had commencement, and I left teaching behind to focus on my writing career over the summer. Sometimes that takes a while to switch gears, but this time around, it doesn’t seem as hard. Maybe that’s because I have been spending … More Switching Gears
If you’ve been keeping up with my blog recently, you probably know I was on stay-cation. Stay-cation is my feeble attempt to share a vacation with my wife on a limited (read nonexistent) budget. It wasn’t all stay at home; Monday and Tuesday we were down with my son and his family in Austin. Saturday … More The Adulation of Millions…or at Least Eight
I’m a relative rookie when it comes to independent publishing. I’ve actually only been doing this since January, 2012. And in the past four months, I have learned a great deal. One of the cardinal rules I have learned about marketing my books is that the two biggest things you can do to help sales … More Tom Horn Gets a Facelift
It’s Wednesday (I think). I just got up a few minutes ago. My wife got up with the dogs at 6:30 and has since gone back to bed. We are on stay-cation. For those who don’t know, stay-cation is vacation at home. Usually it happens, like us, when you’re broke. It’s a pain to be … More Stay-cation
I am seeing today as the last quiet opportunity before I change hats and change jobs. Tomorrow is Commencement at our school and I will be officially done with the school year. Monday my wife and I have a week of vacation. I have already told her that I am hers for that week. When … More Calm Before the Storm
It’s been a rough week. It’s been finals week, and I have five classes that I am responsible for. That went relatively smoothly, but there’s a lot of work grading and making sure the final grade is truly representative of what I think the student’s effort deserves. Then I’ve had a magazine to put to … More Physician, Heal Thyself
The Great Adventure 