Maybe it’s because 2012 is the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar. But I have certainly seen a lot of apocalyptic stories being circulated out there. Of course, it all depends on how you define “apocalypse.” Most of those these days have to do with zombies (and defining that is another issue, … More What I’ve Learned from the Apocalypse
The following is the original short story that my new book “The Kiss of Night” is based on. If you like it, you can find the book here. A jolt of electricity slapped the dozing student between the shoulder blades, and he jerked in his seat. He shook himself, turned his head and looked … More “Extreme Measures”
I’m the type of author that infuriates publishers. Hence I am publishing my own stuff these days. What I’m talking about it the whole concept of genre. I don’t know who invented the concept, but it didn’t take long for a lot of people to buy into the idea. The intent was to label stories … More Genre? What genre?
Launching this new venture called Prevail Publications and sailing out on the stormy seas of independent publishing has introduced Matt and I to a vehicle that is both fun and infuriating. They’re called book trailers. Book trailers are just like movie trailers; you know, the previews of upcoming movies you see if you rent a … More “So what’s your trailer carrying?”
A year ago or so I read a book series entitled Coyote, which was a retelling of the Mayflower story in science fiction terms. Some political dissidents steal a space ship intended to start a colony on a distant planet and start their own colony. The story develops from there in many different, interesting ways. … More Novels that Are Short Stories
Writing students often fantasize about the life of a writer. I know I did. You see yourself starving to death, living in a small studio apartment somewhere, maybe even writing with a quill pen or an old beat-up Smith-Corona…well that dates me a bit. But you get the idea. Writers don’t often fantasize about the … More Grunt Work
I’ve been writing a long time. More specifically, I have been writing stuff off the mainstream for the past five years or so. I tend to choose stories that don’t comfortably fit into one genre or another. And because of this, I’ve often gotten the word from publishers and marketers that my stuff may be … More The Self-Publishing Experience
Yesterday was my first time teaching my new Narrative Writing class. I’m a communication professor, and it’s an English class, so it seems a bit odd. But the English department is excited, I’m excited, and I hope my students will be excited too. Actually, the feeling I got from them yesterday morning was one of … More To be totally honest….
Yesterday I finally got up the courage to publicly announce that I was going the self-publishing route. I gave several reasons for my irrationality. Then after I finished my blog, I thought of some more. Here’s a specific one that comes to mind. Publishers tend to be married to specific audiences. They produce magazines and … More The Island of Misfit Authors
My life–as my students know–has been one big experiment. I come from a traditional background in publishing. I spent five years as a weekly newspaper managing editor, and ten as a book and magazine editor. I have eight books published under two different publishing house brands. And so I am not unfamiliar with how the … More The Case for Self Publishing
The Great Adventure 