Point of View

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Point of View: Listening to My Writer’s Heart

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Scott's Writer's Heart

I’m supposed to be hard at work on a short story extension. I have a publisher interested in a novella-length version of it, but my heart’s just not in it. I thought it was just ’cause I hadn’t written anything new in a while – maybe I was bored with it? So when a deadline for an anthology I’d been interested in but hadn’t had time for was unexpectedly extended, I jumped on the opportunity to write something new, and left my other story behind. I’ve been writing the new one for about two weeks. It’s flowing nicely, and I … Read more

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Point of View: Squirrel!

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Scott - Squirrel

I just spent a couple months slogging through a fourth (or was it seventeenth?) draft of one of my novels, and then jumped right into an extension of another work. After that, I have another novel to finish up. In short, I’m working or reworking a lot of things I have worked on time and time again before. My writer brain wants something NEW! So this week, I am sidetracking a little bit and working on a BRAND FREAKING NEW short story – something for a holiday anthology I’ve had my eye on for awhile. And you know what? It feels GOOD. … Read more

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Point of View: Shaking Up My Marketing Plan

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Scott

Hey all… On paper, I’ve been doing all the things authors are supposed to do to market themselves and their works online. I have my Facebook pages (personal and Author). I am very active on Facebook and have a great network of author and reader friends. I talk about myself more often than I post about my works, showing suitable writer modesty. I have a Twitter account that I also post to regularly. I have an Amazon Author page, a Goodreads Author page, and an ARe Author page. I have my own writerly blog, with regular, unique content – a … Read more

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Point of View: Creative Destruction

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Creative Destruction Scott

A week ago yesterday, I sent off my novel–well, one of them, at any rate. Woo hoo! Now I am wrestling with a short story that I want to extend to novella length. Two problems. One, part of my central premise for the story turns out to be unworkable. Apparently you can’t have a kid at a school with a gun without getting legions of police officers involved. Who knew? Probably anyone who watches any of the thousand and one police procedural shows on TV. *sigh* But there’s another problem too. The story is based on the idea that there … Read more

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Point of View: It’s Done.

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Oberon

I just completed the next step in a journey that began something like twenty years ago, when I sat down to write my first queer sci fi story. The story “Oberon” opened with a graphic (for me) sex scene, and involved a strange world called Oberon – commonly known as Split because it is literally half a world. I didn’t finish it at the time – in fact, I sketched out just a few scenes, and then put it on the shelf with a bunch of my other unfinished works. But it was a milestone for me. I had recently … Read more

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Point of View: How I Edit

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Scott Editing

Hey all, I am breathing down the neck of my first completed novel in twenty years. “Sciatháin” (which many of you may know as “Oberon”) has been through some serious twists and turns to get to this point. I started the story that eventually led to this novel in the mid-nineties. It was the first “gay” story I ever wrote (or at least began), with a sexual opening sequence that was, in a way, my coming out as a writer. I shelved it after a few scenes – well, I shelved pretty much my whole writing career – for a … Read more

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Point of View: Writing a Successful Serial

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Scott

I’m about forty three chapters into “The River City Chronicles“, and am also part of the group serial tale “Marionettes in the Mist” over at Mischief Corner Books. I was just having a conversation with another QSF writer yesterday – someone who is about to embark on a serial project of his own. And it got me thinking – what have I learned in the process of doing two serial fiction projects? So here, in no particular order, is my accumulated wisdom on the subject. 😉 1) Keep Good Notes: This is by far the most important rule of writing … Read more

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Point of View: Taking a Stand

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Scott

I’ve given a lot of thought to our current political environment and the state of this election. As a writer, I’m supposed to have this special “writer persona”. One that doesn’t alarm anyone, that doesn’t ruffle any feathers–one that focuses solely on the promotion of my work. I get that. Who hasn’t been disappointed to learn the political views of one of their artist heroes? I remember vividly how terrible I felt when I learned that Orson Scott Card, the sci fi writer who thrilled and amazed me with “Ender’s Game” and “Speaker for the Dead”, had literally called for … Read more

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Point of View: Taking Stock

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Scott

Hey all, A couple weeks ago, I kinda hit rock bottom as a writer. Having just had three new stories release, I should have been on top of the world. But I had no time to write, and a number of things I thought would go really well in my writing plan had fizzled. I had dreams when I got back into writing. Big dreams. Each story/novella/novel I released would be bigger than the last. People would read my stories and be amazed, touched, moved to tears. And I would start to make a living at this whole writing thing, at … Read more

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Point of View: Making Great Swag

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Swag

OK, I have to admit it. A couple years ago, I had no idea what the hell “swag” was. Then I went to Rainbow Con, and created the first QSF swag – the incredibly tiny buttons – and I finally “got it”. But I still don’t know what makes for great swag – something that people want, something that will help sell your books and advance your brand. Oh, I know the formula: Find something intriguing that people will keep and cherish that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. And I know what doesn’t work. Believe me, I know. … Read more