point of view

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POINT OF VIEW: Three Cats Short of a Horde

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Warning/Disclaimer: In today’s column, I discuss phrases that are colorful synonyms for when someone is “crazy.” I want to distinguish this from mental illness, which is not what I am referring to. Instead, I am referring to people who espouse crazy ideas, often knowing they are not true. Every good writer loves words. It’s an inherent part of the job, just like good lawyers love the law and good pilots love their planes. Words are an integral part of our trade, and we delight in the weird and wonderful nature of the language and enjoy twisting it around like warm … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: 2019

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It’s that time of year again – time to take stock of the ending year, and make plans and write down my goals for 2019. Looking Back So I thought I’d start by looking back at what I said a year ago: “Nevertheless, I go into 2018 re-energized. For one, it’s an election year, and I can see a blue wave rising on the horizon.” Nailed it! Yeah, we didn’t take the senate, but we go into 2019 a lot stronger than we did in 2018. “For another, I finished and sold book two for each of my trilogies with … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW; What a Difference a Week Makes

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scott - happy juice

Last week I was at a bit of a low ebb, bemoaning how difficult it was to market your work on social media and in the publishing world. This week, none of that has changed. Facebook still makes it hard to get your posts out there without tons of money, and Amazon… well, the Zon is still the Zon. And yet it was a good week. I sent in my final book of my second trilogy – “The Shoreless Sea,” to the publisher. And I’ve started my evil plan to storm the SFWA (Sci Fi Writer’s Association) – or “siffwah”, … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Back in Beta Land

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beta reader - 123rf purchased

Hey all, I am on the downslope, the final approach, the last few miles before reaching manuscript-sending home. “The Shoreless Sea,” book three in the Liminal Sky trilogy, is finished, and the beta reads are coming in. This is always a nervous-making time for me, as I am sure that at least one of my beta readers will want me to re-write the whole damned book. *pulls out hair in anticipation* So far, I’ve been lucky… but there have been some big issues raised. For “The Rising Tide,” one astute beta called me on killing off a character too early … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: To The Moon

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Moon Scott

Hey all, Next month I will embark on one of my most ambitious novel projects ever, tentatively titled “Moonbase: Redemption”. It’s set in the same general universe as the Liminal Sky series, but will be a stand-alone novel. Although the jumping off point is in a similar time frame as “The Stark Divide,” this one will encapsulate a lot of my hopes and dreams for the future. Most of it is set on the moon, as the title suggests, and so I am taking a deep dive into all things lunar. I bought a lunar globe and a lunar atlas, … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Leaving a Legacy

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legacy - pixabay

Hey all, The shocking sudden death of author Ethan Day this week, along with the passing of my own stepfather Tony a few weeks ago, has gotten me thinking about death, and mortality, and artistic legacy. Ethan’s own legacy will be measured at least in part by his many published books, and by his time stewarding the Gay Rom Lit con, along with his wonderful co-conspirators. But he will also be remembered for his sweet, happy demeanor, and the integrity with which he lived his life. For me ,this was most evident in the way he wound down his Wilde … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Switching Gears

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Shifting Gears - pixabay

Hey all, For the last three years, I’ve been deep in the weeds of writing not one but two sci fi trilogies – “The Oberon Cycle” (Skythane, Lander, Ithani) and “Liminal Sky” (The Stark Divide, The Rising Tide, and The Shoreless Sea). I love-love-love sci fi, but even as a reader, I would take breaks, often alternating between sci fi and fantasy to cleanse my reading palette. And so it is with my writing. Two months ago, about two-thirds through “The Shoreless Sea,” I took a break – well, not so much took a break as a double-time – writing … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Hope

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hope - pixabay

Hey all, I’m feeling an unreasonable groundswell of hope this week. Totally unwarranted, based on the world we now find ourselves living in. An aberration, really, out of line with this grayer, meaner country. But maybe it’s not. Some of my hope is writing-based. I got a couple pieces of great news about my Liminal Sky series which I’ll share with you soon. I have my first legit bookstore reading this month (join me at 7 PM Thursday at Time Tested Books if you live near Sacramento). And my mother shared “The River City Chronicles” with her pastor. That one … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Spicing Your Story Up With Slang

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bunny boots

Hey all, Today’s column will be short but sweet, as I am in the throes of preparing to go to the Dreamspinner retreat in Orlando Thursday (*waves at all my author friends*). So I thought I’d talk a little more about my new holiday story “Melt.” It’s set in Antarctica, and I found a cool site that includes some Antartcic slang. Whether you’re writing a future world or something in the next city over, including some local idioms and slang can add additional layers to your storytelling. Here are a few from CoolAntarctica.com: Antarctic 10 – A person of the opposite … Read more

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Point of View: This Has All Happened Before

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Q*ink!

Hey all, I was wandering down memory lane earlier this week when I remembered something that I wanted to share with y’all. One of the things Mark and I do is to build directories and communities – Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and a number of others that bring together various parts of the LGBTIQA community. For today’s column, I thought I’d take you back a couple decades, to the beginning of the world wide web, when America Online ruled the Earth. Yes, there was actually a time when the web didn’t exist. It was a strange era, when you … Read more