Years ago, when I was a magazine editor, I was in New York City at Folio Magazine meetings. We were starting our own magazine, and were there to gather as much sage advice as we could before we were swallowed up by the production machine. I remember the advice one editor gave us: “The hardest … More The Hardest Chapter to Write
Don’t get me wrong. I believe National Novel Writing Month–lovingly referred to as NaNoWriMo by the tens of thousands of its participants–is a great thing. I have participated seven times and have completed writing the required 50,000-word novel during the month of November five of those times. In fact, the first time I participated, I … More Why I Won’t Be at #NaNoWriMo This Year
I write a lot of books. And many of those are indie published. And indie books don’t have the best reputation when it comes to editing. So I try to do a lot of research on my books. The book I just finished–Never Say Die–involved a lot (a lot) of historical research having to do … More Hey, I’m not perfect. (But I try to be.)
A week or so ago, I “finished” the first draft of a book I have been wanting to write for several years. It was a massive undertaking, and as with several other books that I have written before, part of the reason why I hadn’t written it before is because I was somewhat intimidated by … More When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough
I am at the last scene of my major book project, Never Say Die, that I have been writing for six months and planning for several years. I am thirty-two chapters and 350 pages in, and now the responsibility comes to wrap up the story in a big bright bow and come up with a … More This is the end…wait…THIS is the end.
You’ve had them to yourself for a long time. Perhaps years. You’ve done your best by them. You’ve tried to raise them up right. But face it. You don’t know everything. It’s time to call in the professionals. I’m talking, of course, about when it comes time to send your manuscript off to an editor. … More Sending the Kids Off to School
The Shadow of the Gryphon by Lara Lee. 345 pages. Bite-Sized Exegesis. As part of the speculative Christian fiction thread on Goodreads I belong to, I was asked to review Lara Lee’s Christian fantasy book, The Shadow of the Gryphon. Here’s the Amazon summary: Join three travelers on a witty adventure set in an exotic … More Review: “The Shadow of the Gryphon” by Lara Lee
Yesterday I had the joy of giving final approval on the cover for The Key of Solomon, something I will be unveiling a week from today. And it got me thinking about something that happened more than 20 years ago. Back in the 90s, I was a book editor in Idaho–among other things–and a magazine … More Selling the Whole Package
I’ve never been a detail person. I consider myself a generalist, and have a reputation of getting a great deal of work done fast. The problem is that I find the details sometimes lacking when you focus on getting volumes of work done. It seems odd for me, a person with several decades’ experience as … More The Devil Is In the Details
Don’t get me wrong. Criticism hurts. It probably hurts me more than most people. I have always had a need to seek approval from other people, to feel that people like me. But I also know that I will never improve as a writer unless I know where I make mistakes. After 40 years in … More In Search of Criticism
