point of view

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POINT OF VIEW: Things That Make Me Happy

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Buddha Board

Hey all, January was a difficult month for me personally, as readers of this column will know. Life moves on, though, and carries us with it. So for today, I want to step back, take a deep breath, and share some of the things that make me happy. 1) Snuggling in Bed With My Honey: This and hot showers are two of my favorite things. Feeling Mark’s warmth next to me, once the triumphs and trials of the day are over, centers me and makes me happy. Until I get too warm and need my own space. LOL… I think … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: The Holy Sh!t Moment

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Scott - Holy Sh!t Moment

Every novelist works a little differently. Some write books by the seat of their pants, riding the crazy writing train to wherever it takes them. Others make meticulous outlines before ever putting a word on the page, and know exactly where they’re going and how they will get there. I suspect that most of us are somewhere in the middle. Icertainly am. I start with a loose outline. I know how the plot will lay out, generally, and the steps along the way. But I also allow for that rarest of beasts – the “Holy Sh!t Moment (HSM).” It’s the … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: He’s Gone

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damon-blurry

WARNING: This is a bit raw and intense. Read at your own risk. He was the first boy I ever wanted. He was the first boy who wanted me. He was my first. On October 23rd, 2009, Damon Nicholson was brutally murdered by a man who had slept with him the night before. He was beaten with a baseball bat in his own home so the man and his accomplice could take his electronics and sell them for drug money. I didn’t know this. I had been thinking about him for the last few days, and last Saturday I decided … Read more

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Point of View: Writer’s Wait

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Writer's Block - Pixabay

Hey all, I just spent the last three weeks agonizing over the plot for “Ithani” – the last book in my Oberon Cycle trilogy. I’m dealing with eight major characters, trying to deliver on the romance piece for a third time, and planning wrap up all of the loose ends by the end of the book. I’ve sat down to outline things on a couple occasions, and nothing felt quite right. It’s like trying to stuff yourself into a pair of jeans that’s three sizes too small–it felt forced, and just sat there on the page, taunting me with its … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Things I’m Thankful For

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Thankful - pixabay

Hey all, In light of the fact that Thanksgiving has just come and gone, I thought I would reflect on the things I am thankful for as a writer. First and foremost, my husband Mark, who has always been supportive of my writing, and who gave me the kick in the ass to get things going again, back in 2013. Love you! Second, I am grateful that I somehow was given the talent to write, and that the ideas don’t stop coming. I am grateful for my wide circle of writerly and readerly friends, especially my QSF co-admins Angel Martinez … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: A Good Beta

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beta reader - 123rf purchased

Hey all, I just got the last of my beta reads back for “The Rising Tide,” the sequel to “”The Stark Divide.” If you don’t know what a beta reader is, it’s someone who reads an author’s story and gives it a critical review before the author submits the book to the publisher, giving us the chance to fix any egregious errors or plot misfires before the editors see the story. I love my beta readers. I hate my beta readers. It’s a private joke between Angel and us that, just once, I want my beta readers to all agree … Read more

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PODCAST: Hanging Out With Jeff & Will

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Jeff and Will

Hey all, This last week, I got to spend half an hour with the infamous Jeff & Will – talking about QRI, QSFm and my latest release, “The Stark Divide.” Love these guys! Check it out here: Big Gay Fiction Podcast – Episode 110 – J. Scott Coatsworth interview, Book & Music Reviews plus Holiday Giveaway Announcement

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POINT OF VIEW: Zombies in River City

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zombies - pixabay

Hey all, I am working my way through my consistency edit for “The River City Chronicles.” Yeah, I know, hobgoblin of little minds, and all that. But in a work of fiction, consistency is king. And in a serial story, it can be especially difficult to maintain, because a) it’s written over a relatively long period of time, and b) each chapter is published and essentially set in stone almost right away, so it’s harder to go back and fix things. And for me, c) I jumped into this too quickly, didn’t get a good head start, and took lousy … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: The Calm Before the Storm

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Hey all, Tomorrow is the release day for “The Stark Divide,” the queer sci fi book that launches my Liminal Sky series. All the preparations have been made. The Incredibly Massive Blog Tour ™ is ready to go. And I’ve done everything I can to see that the book will be a success. Now I wait, suspended in that weird space between preparation and release, before I know if the reviewers will love it or hate it. Before I know if it will sell. Before I know if this is another step on the path to writerly success, or a … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: I Wanna Write That Instead!

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Scott

Hey all, I’m on a serious deadline for my novel “The Rising Tide.” It’s going well, I think. But… See, there’s this other story I wanna write, which would be due on 10/1. It’s short, and I could probably do it in 3-6 days. I even had a bit of inspiration. But… Like I said, I have a deadline. And I don’t wanna lose momentum on my novel, which has a hard deadline. What would you do? Stick to your deadline? Write the other story to get it out of your system? Invent a time machine and go back a … Read more