writing

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: Writing at a Dead Run

by
run - pixabay

I’m writing my ass off. Seriously, I haven’t written at this brisk a pace since NaNoWriMo back in… 2014? 2015? I have the wind at my back. Or maybe it’s a pack of snarling wolves. Or perhsps just the fear of not making it – never quite getting to where I want to be as an author before I die. Hitting your fifties encourages a whole lot of “what have I done with my life” soul-searching. Those who follow me (thanks to both of you!) know that I am gearing up to find an agent, to take the next step … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: When the Story Takes a Twist

by

Every writer who has been doing this gig for a while has probably experienced something like this: A character suddenly reveals something about themselves that you’d never guessed when you first created them. Or maybe what was just a minor throw-away plot point or description suddenly blossoms and veers the story off onto a whole new course. Or that guy you mentioned waaaay back in book one suddenly wants his own plot arc in book three. As a writer, I live for those moments – when the writing feels alive, when it practically sings under my hands on the keyboard. … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: Writing Short vs. Writing Long

by

Hey all… I am finally moving along on my latest novel, “The Long Redemption” – it’s set in the same universe as the “Liminal Sky” trilogy, but with a whole different setting and cast of characters. For the last three years, I have written two novels a year, and this year, I am giving myself a little break and just doing this one. It’s due by the start of October, so I have nine months to complete it instead of six. So what am I doing with the extra time, you ask? I hav set my sights on conquering SiffWah. … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POV: Writing is Hard

by
Scott

Hey all… Writing is what I love more than almost anything else in the world (except maybe Mark, Mom and Dad, and Oreos). But sometimes, being a writer is soul-crushingly hard. I’m not talking about the writing itself. Writing can make me crazy, sure. There are times when the words just don’t come, and times when you just can’t sit down to write. And times (usually at the three quarters point of the story) when you decide everything you write is shit. But that’s par for the course. What I’m talking about today is getting your work out there, and … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: Switching Gears

by
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

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: Suck A Little Happy Juice

by
scott - happy juice

Hey all, It’s an amazing time in my writerly life. I’m starting to get some local press for “The River City Chronicles” (ok, so I begged and pleaded, but hey, whatever it takes, right?) – and I will do my first official bookstore reading and signing on October 4th at Time Tested Books in midtown Sacramento. (hint hint hint) You can sign up to go here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1180415018767294/ If you are in the Sacramento area, please sign up. I need to show the bookstore I have local support, so they will ask me back again. 🙂 At the same time, I … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: What’s Next?

by
blank page - pixabay

Hey all, As I work to finish the final book in the Liminal Sky series, I’ve been giving some thought to the question in today’s title – what’s next for me as a writer? I’ve done far more than I ever thought possible in this whole writing and publishing thing: Sold more than 20 stories (shorts, novellas and novels). Written not one but two series, to critical acclaim (and am wrapping up the last book now) Had a few certified Amazon bestsellers (albeit in smaller categories) Published my own works In the four years since I published my first short … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: The Roller Coaster and the Inner Critic

by
critic - pixabay

Hey all, As anyone who knows me or follows this column knows, it’s been a wild month. It was just about a month ago that we discovered how much GDPR (the new EU privacy law) would require of us as a company, and how little time (3 weeks!!!) we had to accomplish it. It also landed squarely in the lead-up to the release of “The River City Chronicles,” my first self-published work. It also happened to be the month when I was due to finish writing Ithani, and one of my beta readers threw me a (much needed) curve ball … Read more

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

POINT OF VIEW: Punch Drunk and Slap Happy

by
Sleepy Scott

I have to admit, I approached the prospect of writing today’s column with a bit of trepidation. It’s almost never a good idea to write sleepy. I spent a lot of yesterday afternoon and evening prepping my first book for self publication – “The River City Chronicles” should come out in about a month or so, date to be announced soon. Then I spent the rest of the night in bed obsessing over what I still had to do. You see, I have this condition called writer’s’s brain. In the clear morning light, it’s obvious that most of the stuff I … Read more