Launching our books doesn’t have to be a formidable task. Instead, consider the it a challenge we can meet head-on with a plan that works. “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” — Orson Scott […]
Barry Sanders. The greatest running back in NFL history (calm down Browns and Cowboys fans). The forever pride of the Detroit Lions. Electric. An athlete absolutely worth the price of admission. Slashing, spinning, juking, power-running, twisting, lunging, and whatever other contortions he needed to make to succeed on a football field. Over a 10-year career, […]
The following is an except from the novel The Detective Next Door. “On Tuesday, November 8th , 2016 at approximately 0720 hours, officers reported to 16 Hibiscus Dr. in reference to a report of a stolen vehicle. Contact was made with the victim who advised that his blue 2016 BMW 330i was stolen by an […]
In all honesty, at times the use of coma (disorders of consciousness) in television and movies can be laughable. A character on a soap opera awakens dramatically after years in a deep coma and talks perfectly with no confusion. Right. You may know this, but Robin Cook’s second novel Coma is considered the genesis of […]
I am grateful that I experienced many things … and that I have been able to write a dozen books, to receive innumerable letters from friends, colleagues, and readers. —Oliver Sacks The day-to-day annoyances we complain about are suddenly trivial when we face a major catastrophe. How many of us gripe and complain about minor […]
A panda walks into a bar. He eats, shoots, and leaves. Or does he eat shoots and leaves? Yes, punctuation is powerful, changing meanings even in punchlines, suggesting titles for fun books on punctuation, and starting bar fights. For the newspaper business, technical papers, scientific journals, legal writs, etcetera, style manuals keep everybody understanding what […]
A few short stories and a novel or two (even if sold to a major publisher) is seldom enough for a career. Making the equivalent salary of a full-time job year after year is really hitting the lottery, and quite an achievement. Sales and writing income fluctuate wildly, and one must plan carefully if this […]
If you do a quick Google search on the benefits and costs of self-publishing versus a traditional route, you will most likely find one blog post after the other, one website after the other, claiming that self-publishing is the way to go. How many of those are in some form inserted into your feed by […]
Michael J. Tucker There is plenty of good, practical advice out there for two authors interested in co-writing a book or short story — everything from constant communication to a shared vision for the project, from outlining the novel to who writes what, from being open to criticism to trusting each […]
Sharing Options What Good are Conferences?by Kaye George I admit, I love to attend writing conferences and conventions for selfish reasons. They are THE places to connect with other authors, ones I communicate with, but rarely see—authors that live all across this country, and sometimes in other countries, too. There’s nothing better than hanging out […]