I have told my writing classes many times that if you are serious about writing, you never stop being the student. And it’s true. My students think I am the Writing Master, but I am the first to admit that I still have a lot to learn about writing. And that, I think, is one … More The Student Becomes the Teacher
I don’t think I am alone when I tell the truth that there was always something in me that wanted to change the world. However, you see the world–in need of God, unfair, abusive, frightening–I believe that everyone has a desire to change it. Writers are slightly different because most of us believe that one … More Changing the world…one story at a time
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
Writing stories is a funny business. Editing and evaluating them is too. It’s not simply a matter of dealing with what’s in front of you. You have to read people’s minds in many cases. I spent ten years as a book and magazine editor, and I got pretty good at evaluating manuscripts. And I knew … More Don’t Shoot the Messenger
The big sign on the wall which read: “Ten Minutes to Midnight” was more symbolic than real. Across the dance floor, on the opposite wall, hung a giant digital clock. As Adam watched, the clock ticked down in seconds and minutes, right now showing 22 minutes left until it reached zero. Four flat-screened television sets … More “Ten Minutes to Midnight”
This is the second year that the Rough Writers and I have followed our tradition—that’s the one where I take everyone to Sonic at our last meeting of the school year and treat everyone to root beer floats. I say root beer, but we’ve never been a group for homogeneity, and so I suspect some … More Bittersweet Chocolate
The following is a new short story that I intend to turn into part of my project Pilgrim’s Progress novel this summer. Enjoy. The sun baked our brown, supple bikinied bodies, and we reveled in it. Four of us—Marcie, Kimmy, Infinity and me, Ellie—were on permanent spring break. School was out, and we had no … More “The Stranger”
Years ago I remember reading an article in Writer’s Digest encouraging writers to find places to sell second rights to their articles and stories. And thirds. And fourths. The whole point was to get as much mileage out of your hard-earned words as you can. I’ve kind of lost sight of that advice. But going … More Recycling…or repurposing?
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 Great Adventure 